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Polk County, North Carolina: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Polk County is 137.5 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. Federal databases place 134 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (96), Rail grade crossing (11), Gas station (mapped facility) (9). 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: 35.2976, -82.1764.

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 Polk County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Brain & nervous system	New cases	12.8	6.2	2.06xSignificant	6.7 to 22.6	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	27.3	23.8	1.15x	19.4 to 38.1	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	18.2	17.9	1.02x	11 to 28.9	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	436.1	453.4	0.96x	402 to 472.9	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	137.5	143.2	0.96x	119.6 to 157.9	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	46	51.8	0.89x	36.2 to 58.4	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	12.8	14.5	0.88x	7 to 22.2	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	9.2	11.3	0.81x	5.6 to 15.6	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	22.8	30.2	0.75x	17 to 31.3	2020-2024
Pancreas	New cases	9.9	13.9	0.71x	6.3 to 16.4	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	12.1	18.5	0.65x	7.7 to 19.5	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	12.1	18.7	0.65x	8 to 18.9	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 Polk County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	10,656.5	9,842.6	+8%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	76.5	75.3	+2%	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	127.4	96.9	+31%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	31.3	28.6	+9%	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.

Formaldehyde20.11 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.85 per million
Acetaldehyde1.96 per million
Benzene0.91 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit96
Rail grade crossing11
Gas station (mapped facility)9
Air permit holder (minor source)7
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)4
Public airport2
Brownfield property2
Small hazardous waste generator1
Heliport1
Hydroelectric plant1

Highest-severity records

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

Tryon Wwtp, Tryon
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $4,370.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006644373 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.5
Columbus Wwtp, Columbus
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006710844 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Lynnbrook Estates Wwtp, Columbus
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006804084 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Saluda Wwtp, Saluda
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $2,659.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009845365 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Woodland Mills Wwtp, Mill Spring
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009846060 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Britten Creek Wwtp, Mill Spring
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $960.
EPA FRS registry ID 110018597151 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Mill Spring School, Mill Spring
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110042300284 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Grover Industries, Lynn
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043692420 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Cooper Riis Healing Farm, Mill Spring
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017696536 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Polk Central School, Mill Spring
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $230.
EPA FRS registry ID 110018796436 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
103 River Cove Lane, Saluda
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006712888 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Timkensteel Corp - Tryon Peak, Columbus
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006722127 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Milliken & Company - Hatch Plant, Columbus
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007116511 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Apac-Atlantic, Inc. - Plant 04139 Tryon, Tryon
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007123148 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
211 Point Of View Lane, Saluda
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110018672578 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Woodland Mills Corporation, Mill Spring
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110018684976 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Polk Sawmill, Llc, Mill Spring
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110022558579 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Harmon'S Dairy, Columbus
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110027251818 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Carolina Yarn Processors, Division Of Fendrich, Tryon
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039206061 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Turner Shoals Hydro Facility, Mill Spring
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110056979989 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Clean & Tidy Car Wash, Mill Spring
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071228948 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Gfl Columbus Hauling, Columbus
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071400280 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Adger Mine, Mill Spring
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071545864 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Lot 35 Derbyshire Subdivision [P97-186], Columbus, Nc, Columbus
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071911431 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Eminger Residence, Tryon
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071911530 (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 Polk 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 Polk 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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