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Towns County, Georgia: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Towns County is 150.2 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. The strongest disease signals are Lung & bronchus deaths at 1.4 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 393 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (231), Industrial wastewater discharge (141), Gas station (mapped facility) (14). EPA AirToxScreen estimates a lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics of 20 in a million, driven mainly by formaldehyde.

Rates are age-adjusted per 100,000 people. A cancer signal is marked significant when the lower bound of its 95 percent confidence interval is above the U.S. rate. Facility counts use active federal records located inside the county boundary. Approximate county center: 34.8918, -83.7242.

How this county ranks in Georgia

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Cancer deaths and new cases versus the United States

Source: NCI and CDC State Cancer Profiles, both sexes, all ages. Sorted by the ratio of the county rate to the U.S. rate.

Cancer rates for Towns County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	50.8	23.8	2.13xSignificant	35.8 to 71	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	21.1	14.5	1.46x	12.9 to 34.3	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	42.2	30.2	1.4xSignificant	31.1 to 57.6	2020-2024
Pancreas	New cases	18.3	13.9	1.32x	9.7 to 32.7	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	65.1	51.8	1.26x	50 to 84.7	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	22.9	18.7	1.22x	14.5 to 36.2	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	13.6	11.3	1.2x	7.5 to 24.8	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	510.9	453.4	1.13xSignificant	463.6 to 562.5	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	150.2	143.2	1.05x	129.1 to 175.2	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	18	17.9	1.01x	10.9 to 29.9	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	16.6	18.5	0.9x	8.9 to 29.6	2019-2023

Mortality measures versus the U.S. county median

Source: County Health Rankings, built from CDC National Vital Statistics System death records. The comparison value is the median of all U.S. counties.

Mortality measures for Towns County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	10,501.2	9,842.6	+7%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	75.8	75.3	+1%	years
Child mortality	n/a	59.8	n/a	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	n/a	6.2	n/a	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	104.9	96.9	+8%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	n/a	28.6	n/a	deaths per 100,000

Air toxics and air quality

EPA AirToxScreen 2020

Lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics: 20 in a million. EPA treats 100 in a million as the upper end of acceptable risk and 1 in a million as the goal.

Formaldehyde17.47 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.75 per million
Acetaldehyde1.61 per million
Benzene0.62 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

No EPA air quality monitor reports daily AQI for this county.

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

393 active records inside the county from EPA ECHO, TRI, Superfund, Brownfields, NPDES, EIA, FAA, FRA and corrections data.

NPDES wastewater discharge permit231
Industrial wastewater discharge141
Gas station (mapped facility)14
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)2
Dry cleaner (mapped facility)2
Landfill (mapped facility)2
Air permit holder (minor source)1

Highest-severity records

The 25 records with the highest Envyrofax severity in the county, with the agency identifier to cite in a records request.

Hiawassee, City Of (Hiawassee Wpcp), Hiawassee
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010038397 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Harbin Dry Cleaner
Dry cleaner (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID node/5074672946 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Dry Cleaner
Dry cleaner (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID node/5076407929 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Landfill
Landfill (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/553857457 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Landfill
Landfill (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/553857458 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Young Harris, City Of (Young Harris Wpcp), Young Harris
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006778095 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Hiawassee, City Of (Rowe Canupp Wtp), Hiawassee
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110011330737 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Bald Mountain Camping Resort, Hiawassee
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017708710 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Young Harris College, Young Harris
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110026450613 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Jim Jeffery Fill Site, Unknown
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070005674 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Hastings, Bell Creek Cove Subdivision Lot 2, Unknown
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070006510 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Whisperwoods Subdivision, Hiawassee
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070007456 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Dollar General - Macedonia, Unknown
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070007483 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
White Oak Retreat Subdivision Lot 2, Unknown
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070008351 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Hidden Valley Circle, Unknown
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070008979 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Hedden Cove Subdivision Lot 8, Unknown
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070011064 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Hickory Hollow Subdivision Lot 6, Unknown
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070013591 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
George Van Eron, Hiawassee
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070013858 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Brown Haven Heights, Lot 10, Hiawassee
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070014196 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Ridge View Road, Unknown
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070014732 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Bell Creek Cove Lot 3, Unknown
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070015174 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Sunset View Lot 2, Young Harris
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070015878 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Mass Grading Plans For Jr Bridges - The Gardens, Young Harris
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070017089 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Tatsumi Intermodal Usa, Inc. At Gateway Centre, Unknown
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070017144 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Overlook At Lake Blue Ridge Phase V, Unknown
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070017467 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5

Correctional facilities

Prisons, jails and corrections operations with an EPA facility record, and the drinking water and wastewater compliance attached to them.

No correctional facility with an EPA record is located in this county.

Discovery / public records

Records to request for Towns County

Georgia state cancer registry
Cancer incidence counts by census tract or ZIP code, by cancer type and year (de-identified). Any cancer cluster inquiries or investigations in Towns County, and their findings.
Georgia vital statistics office
Death certificate counts by cause of death and residence tract or ZIP code, and the years behind the mortality measures above.
Georgia health department, environmental epidemiology
Health consultations or assessments by ATSDR or the state health department covering the county, and any exposure investigations.
Georgia environmental agency and the U.S. EPA regional office
Compliance history, inspection reports, notices of violation, penalties and enforcement actions for each facility above, cited by EPA FRS registry ID.
Georgia drinking water program
Violation notices, sampling results and sanitary surveys for the public water systems serving the county, including any system serving a correctional facility.
Department of corrections or county sheriff
Water testing, grievances and environmental health inspections for the correctional facilities listed above.

Each Envyrofax address report includes a printable records request worksheet with the custodian and the exact request wording per finding.

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