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Halifax County, North Carolina: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Halifax County is 191.3 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Kidney & renal pelvis deaths at 1.7 times the U.S. rate and Lung & bronchus deaths at 1.5 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 270 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (69), Rail grade crossing (54), Gas station (mapped facility) (29). 2 correctional facilities operate in the county. 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: 36.2575, -77.6836.

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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 Halifax County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Kidney & renal pelvis	Deaths	5.8	3.4	1.71xSignificant	3.6 to 9.1	2020-2024
Esophagus	Deaths	6.1	3.7	1.65x	3.6 to 9.7	2020-2024
Esophagus	New cases	7.3	4.6	1.59x	4.6 to 11.2	2019-2023
Bladder	Deaths	6.2	4.1	1.51x	3.9 to 9.5	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	44	30.2	1.46xSignificant	37.4 to 51.7	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	191.3	143.2	1.34xSignificant	176.8 to 206.8	2020-2024
Leukemia	Deaths	7.6	5.7	1.33x	5 to 11.2	2020-2024
Brain & nervous system	New cases	8.2	6.2	1.32x	5 to 12.7	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	17.7	13.9	1.27x	13.7 to 22.7	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	64.8	51.8	1.25xSignificant	56.8 to 73.7	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	14.1	11.3	1.25x	10.5 to 18.7	2020-2024
Stomach	New cases	7.9	6.6	1.2x	5.1 to 11.7	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	7.6	6.6	1.15x	5.1 to 11.2	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	5.5	4.8	1.15x	3.3 to 9	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	New cases	9.9	8.7	1.14x	7 to 14	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	510.5	453.4	1.13xSignificant	486 to 535.9	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	16	14.5	1.1x	12 to 21.1	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	19	17.9	1.06x	14.4 to 24.8	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	17.6	18.7	0.94x	13.5 to 22.7	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	15.8	18.5	0.85x	11.6 to 21.2	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	9.3	13	0.72x	5.7 to 14.3	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	16.2	23.8	0.68x	12.1 to 21.4	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 Halifax County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	15,814.7	9,842.6	+61%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	70.4	75.3	-6%	years
Child mortality	104.7	59.8	+75%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	10.5	6.2	+69%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	130.8	96.9	+35%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	36.4	28.6	+27%	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.

Formaldehyde19.58 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.96 per million
Acetaldehyde2.15 per million
Benzene0.99 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit69
Rail grade crossing54
Gas station (mapped facility)29
Air permit holder (minor source)23
Brownfield property15
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)13
Solar power plant11
Small hazardous waste generator9
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)9
TRI reporting facility7
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)6
Major air pollution source5
Heliport4
Public airport3
Large greenhouse gas emitter3
Correctional facility (prison or jail)2
Commercial airport1
Dry cleaner (mapped facility)1
Large hazardous waste generator1
Battery storage plant1
Biomass power plant1
Hydroelectric plant1
Oil-fired power plant1
Scrapyard (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.

Roanoke Rapids Mill Wwtp, Roanoke Rapids
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $399.
EPA FRS registry ID 110037266990 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 9.8
Westrock Kraft Paper Llc, Roanoke Rapids
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Methanol, Hydrogen sulfide, Ammonia, Acetaldehyde and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 5,500,356 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 27870CHMPNNORTH (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 9.7
Roseburg Forest Products - Roanoke Valley Lumber, Weldon
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Polycyclic aromatic compounds, Lead compounds. Reports carcinogens. 1,174 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 27890RNKVL290PO (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.9
Roanoke Rapids Mill Wwtp, Roanoke Rapids
Major air pollution source. Penalties $399.
EPA FRS registry ID 110037266990 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.5
Roanoke Rapids Mill Wwtp, Roanoke Rapids
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $399.
EPA FRS registry ID 110037266990 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Pittman Elementary School Wwtp, Enfield
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $1,053.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006673769 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Enfield Wwtp, Enfield
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $1,727.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009845533 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Roanoke Rapids Mill Wwtp, Roanoke Rapids
Large greenhouse gas emitter. Penalties $399.
EPA FRS registry ID 110037266990 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Rosemary Power Station, Roanoke Rapids
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $7,738.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001483261 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5
Nc Department Of Correction, Tillery
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $1,665.
EPA FRS registry ID 110018783832 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5
Patch Rubber Co Inc, Roanoke Rapids
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000601894 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.9
Roanoke Rapids Wwtp, Weldon
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000573932 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Patch Rubber Co, Weldon
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Zinc compounds. 108 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 27870PTCHRBECKE (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.6
Rosemary Power Station, Roanoke Rapids
Major air pollution source. Penalties $7,738.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001483261 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Town Of Scotland Neck, Scotland Neck
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $1,807.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009845695 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Nc Department Of Correction, Tillery
Air permit holder (minor source). Penalties $1,665.
EPA FRS registry ID 110018783832 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Binderholz Enfield Llc, Enfield
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead, Lead And Lead Compounds. Reports carcinogens.
TRI facility ID 2782WBNDRH26PIP (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.5
Culpeper Of Roanoke Rapids Llc, Roanoke Rapids
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Copper compounds, Arsenic compounds, Chromium compounds (except for chromite ore mined in the Transvaal Region). Reports carcinogens.
TRI facility ID 27870MLLCNWEST1 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.5
Rosemary Power Station, Roanoke Rapids
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: n-Hexane, 1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene, Naphthalene. Reports carcinogens.
TRI facility ID 27870RSMRY12THS (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.5
Weldon Wwtp, Weldon
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110002082077 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Littleton Wwtp, Littleton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $1,546.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009845551 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Rosemary Power Station, Roanoke Rapids
Oil-fired power plant.
Record ID 50555 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 4.2
Roanoke Valley Energy Facility, Weldon
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000347777 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Rosemary Power Station, Roanoke Rapids
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $7,738.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001483261 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Culpeper Of Roanoke Rapids Llc, Roanoke Rapids
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009719144 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4

Correctional facilities

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

Nc Department Of Correction, Tillery
EPA FRS registry ID
110018783832
Wastewater permit
Yes, 11 quarters in noncompliance
EPA detailed facility report
Correction Enterprise Farms-Farm Shop, Halifax
EPA FRS registry ID
110071355406
Wastewater permit
None on record
EPA detailed facility report

Discovery / public records

Records to request for Halifax 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 Halifax 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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