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Alamance County, North Carolina: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Alamance County is 162.9 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Non-Hodgkin lymphoma deaths at 1.4 times the U.S. rate and Lung & bronchus deaths at 1.4 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 500 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (293), Gas station (mapped facility) (48), Air permit holder (minor source) (45). EPA AirToxScreen estimates a lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics of 30 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: 36.0519, -79.4004.

How this county ranks in North Carolina

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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 Alamance County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	6.7	4.8	1.4xSignificant	5.3 to 8.5	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	41.1	30.2	1.36xSignificant	37.5 to 45	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	8.9	6.6	1.35xSignificant	7.2 to 10.8	2020-2024
Leukemia	Deaths	7.6	5.7	1.33xSignificant	6 to 9.5	2020-2024
Leukemia	New cases	19.3	14.5	1.33xSignificant	16.6 to 22.2	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	68.1	51.8	1.31xSignificant	63.4 to 73.2	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	New cases	11.2	8.7	1.29xSignificant	9.4 to 13.3	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	Deaths	2.5	2	1.25x	1.6 to 3.7	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	Deaths	4.1	3.4	1.21x	3 to 5.4	2020-2024
Childhood cancer (under 15)	New cases	19.5	16.4	1.19x	13.2 to 27.7	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	20.8	17.9	1.16xSignificant	18.1 to 23.7	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	162.9	143.2	1.14xSignificant	155.4 to 170.6	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	512.1	453.4	1.13xSignificant	498.5 to 526	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	20.9	18.7	1.12x	18.3 to 23.8	2019-2023
Esophagus	New cases	5.1	4.6	1.11x	3.9 to 6.7	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	20.2	18.5	1.09x	17.5 to 23.1	2019-2023
Esophagus	Deaths	4	3.7	1.08x	2.9 to 5.3	2020-2024
Pancreas	Deaths	12.1	11.3	1.07x	10.1 to 14.4	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	24.8	23.8	1.04x	21.9 to 28.1	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	Deaths	4.3	4.4	0.98x	3.1 to 5.7	2020-2024
Pancreas	New cases	13.5	13.9	0.97x	11.4 to 16	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	New cases	5.7	6.2	0.92x	4.2 to 7.5	2019-2023
Bladder	Deaths	3.6	4.1	0.88x	2.5 to 4.9	2020-2024
Stomach	New cases	5.7	6.6	0.86x	4.3 to 7.4	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	10.8	13	0.83x	8.8 to 13.1	2019-2023
Stomach	Deaths	1.5	2.7	0.56x	0.9 to 2.5	2020-2024

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 Alamance County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	9,570.6	9,842.6	-3%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	75.4	75.3	+0%	years
Child mortality	56.8	59.8	-5%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	7.2	6.2	+16%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	98.3	96.9	+1%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	31.8	28.6	+11%	deaths per 100,000

Air toxics and air quality

EPA AirToxScreen 2020

Lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics: 30 in a million. EPA treats 100 in a million as the upper end of acceptable risk and 1 in a million as the goal.

Formaldehyde22.06 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.92 per million
Acetaldehyde2.24 per million
Benzene1.28 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit293
Gas station (mapped facility)48
Air permit holder (minor source)45
Rail grade crossing26
Small hazardous waste generator22
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)13
TRI reporting facility12
Large hazardous waste generator7
Solar power plant7
Major air pollution source5
Scrapyard (mapped facility)4
Public airport3
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)3
Dry cleaner (mapped facility)3
Brownfield property2
Landfill (mapped facility)2
Commercial airport1
Large greenhouse gas emitter1
Heliport1
Hydroelectric plant1
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)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.

Canfor Southern Pine - Graham Plant, Graham
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $158,980.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040987144 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 8.7
Canfor Southern Pine - Graham Plant, Graham
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Methanol, Lead compounds, Lead And Lead Compounds, Lead and 1 more. Reports carcinogens. 30,945 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 27253NWSTH448MT (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.9
South Atlantic Galvanizing, Graham
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Zinc compounds, Lead, Chromium and Chromium Compounds(except for chromite ore mined in the Transvaal Region). Reports carcinogens. 25,318 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 27253STHTL3025S (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.9
Indulor America Lp, Graham
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Styrene, Ammonia, Ethyl acrylate, Methyl methacrylate and 3 more. Reports carcinogens. 10,664 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 2725WNDLRX932EA (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.6
Canfor Southern Pine - Graham Plant, Graham
Major air pollution source. Penalties $158,980.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040987144 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.5
Apollo Chemical, Burlington
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Certain glycol ethers, Ethylene glycol, Methanol, Diethyl sulfate. Reports carcinogens. 4,197 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 27215BRLNGWILLO (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.3
Stericycle Inc, Haw River
Major air pollution source. Penalties $173,628.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001483537 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.3
North Carolina Manufacturing, Swepsonville
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Toluene, Xylene (mixed isomers), Cumene, Copper and 2 more. Reports carcinogens. 2,154 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 27359HNDPWHONDA (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.1
Canfor Southern Pine - Graham Plant, Graham
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $158,980.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040987144 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
Graham Wwtp City Of, Graham
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $9,340.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000761890 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.8
Liggett Group Llc, Mebane
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nicotine and salts. 38,829 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 27302CLLNC100MA (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.5
Engineered Controls International Inc, Elon College
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $20,008.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000800571 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.5
South Atlantic Galvanizing, Graham
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009857654 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.2
Liggett Group Llc, Mebane
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006860708 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.8
Engineered Controls International Inc, Elon College
Large hazardous waste generator. Penalties $20,008.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000800571 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Engineered Controls International Llc, Elon
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Copper, Silver, Nickel, Lead. Reports carcinogens. 12 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 27244RGCMP100RE (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.4
Apollo Chemical, Burlington
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000345617 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.4
Indulor America Lp, Graham
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110056968456 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Stericycle Inc, Haw River
Small hazardous waste generator. Penalties $173,628.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001483537 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Saxapahaw Wwtp, Graham
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $2,552.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006709623 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Burlington Finishing Plant, Burlington
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone. 375 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 27215BRLNG906AN (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5
Itg-Burlington Finishing Plant, Burlington
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009851240 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Hydro Extrusion Usa Llc, Burlington
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead. Reports carcinogens. 1 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 27215NDLXN1507I (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.7
South Burlington Wastewater Treatment Plant, Graham
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000553712 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Mebane Wwtp, Mebane
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000762489 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5

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 Alamance County

North Carolina 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 Alamance County, and their findings.
North Carolina vital statistics office
Death certificate counts by cause of death and residence tract or ZIP code, and the years behind the mortality measures above.
North Carolina health department, environmental epidemiology
Health consultations or assessments by ATSDR or the state health department covering the county, and any exposure investigations.
North Carolina 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.
North Carolina 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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