NC / county FIPS 37181 / county research

Vance County, North Carolina: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Vance County is 189.8 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Liver & bile duct deaths at 1.6 times the U.S. rate and Lung & bronchus deaths at 1.5 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 184 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (56), Rail grade crossing (43), Gas station (mapped facility) (20). 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: 36.3543, -78.3984.

How this county ranks in North Carolina

View on the heat map Scan an address in this county

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 Vance County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	10.7	6.6	1.62xSignificant	7.4 to 15.3	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	New cases	13.4	8.7	1.54xSignificant	9.5 to 18.5	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	43.8	30.2	1.45xSignificant	36.5 to 52.3	2020-2024
Leukemia	New cases	19.5	14.5	1.34x	14.2 to 26.3	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	18.6	13.9	1.34xSignificant	14 to 24.4	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	15.1	11.3	1.34x	11 to 20.5	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	68.9	51.8	1.33xSignificant	59.7 to 79.3	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	189.8	143.2	1.33xSignificant	173.7 to 207.1	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	23.4	17.9	1.31x	17.9 to 30.2	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	533.4	453.4	1.18xSignificant	505.8 to 562.2	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	22.1	23.8	0.93x	16.7 to 28.7	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	16	18.7	0.86x	11.8 to 21.4	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	15.6	18.5	0.84x	11.2 to 21.4	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	7.5	13	0.58x	4.2 to 12.2	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 Vance County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	16,711.2	9,842.6	+70%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	70.1	75.3	-7%	years
Child mortality	108.5	59.8	+82%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	8.9	6.2	+43%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	132.5	96.9	+37%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	44.9	28.6	+57%	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.

Formaldehyde19.85 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.94 per million
Acetaldehyde2.03 per million
Benzene1.09 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit56
Rail grade crossing43
Gas station (mapped facility)20
Air permit holder (minor source)15
Solar power plant13
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)6
TRI reporting facility6
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)6
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)5
Small hazardous waste generator4
Major air pollution source2
Public airport2
Landfill (mapped facility)2
Dry cleaner (mapped facility)1
Large greenhouse gas emitter1
Large hazardous waste generator1
Heliport1

Highest-severity records

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

Ardagh Glass Inc., Henderson
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $4,535.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001482887 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 8.3
Eastern Minerals Inc, Henderson
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Zinc compounds, Manganese And Manganese Compounds, Copper And Copper Compounds, Manganese compounds and 3 more. Reports carcinogens. 3,750 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 27536STRNMUS1SO (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.2
Henderson Nutbush Creek Wwtp, Henderson
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $27,780.
EPA FRS registry ID 110002357930 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
Ardagh Glass Inc, Henderson
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Hydrochloric acid (acid aerosols including mists, vapors, gas, fog, and other airborne forms of any particle size), Ammonia, Lead compounds, Lead And Lead Compounds. 45,600 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 27536BLLNCUSHWY (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.6
Kennametal Inc, Henderson
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Cobalt. Reports carcinogens. 53 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 27536KNNMTSTATE (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.8
Ardagh Glass Inc., Henderson
Major air pollution source. Penalties $4,535.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001482887 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.8
Eastern Minerals Inc, Henderson
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010448836 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Ardagh Glass Inc., Henderson
Large hazardous waste generator. Penalties $4,535.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001482887 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Ardagh Glass Inc., Henderson
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $4,535.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001482887 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Kittrell Job Corps Center, Kittrell
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $415.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009719554 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5
Ardagh Glass Inc., Henderson
Large greenhouse gas emitter. Penalties $4,535.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001482887 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Vance County Schools, Middleburg
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $2,600.
EPA FRS registry ID 110018662302 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Sunrock Industries Llc - Kittrell Quarry, Kittrell
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110037982993 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.6
Sunrock Industries Llc - Kittrell, Kittrell
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead And Lead Compounds. 70 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 2754WCRLNS214SU (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.4
City Of Henderson-Small Ms4, Henderson
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110044960352 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Kennametal Inc, Henderson
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000346910 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.1
Mars Petcare, Henderson
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001483458 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Doman Tucker Lumber Of North Carolina, Llc, Henderson
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110004037612 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Long Creek Court Wwtp, Kittrell
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $2,566.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006709366 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Kerr Lake Regional Wtp, Henderson
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $5,957.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009842359 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Kennametal Inc, Henderson
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000346910 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Kennametal Inc, Henderson
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000346910 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Doman Tucker Lumber Of North Carolina Llc, Henderson
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Copper compounds, Sodium nitrite.
TRI facility ID 27536DYLLMEXIT2 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 3
Mars Petcare Us Inc., Henderson
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Zinc compounds.
TRI facility ID 2753WTHMSC845CM (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 3
Hibernia Recreation Area, Henderson
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $305.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069226297 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5

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 Vance 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 Vance 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.

Scan an address in Vance County View on the heat map All North Carolina counties