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Athens County, Ohio: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Athens County is 165.6 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Lung & bronchus deaths at 1.5 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 194 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (68), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (36), Gas station (mapped facility) (28). 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: 39.366, -82.0708.

How this county ranks in Ohio

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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 Athens County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Kidney & renal pelvis	Deaths	5.2	3.4	1.53x	2.9 to 8.7	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	45	30.2	1.49xSignificant	38.1 to 52.9	2020-2024
Bladder	Deaths	5.9	4.1	1.44x	3.5 to 9.5	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	69.9	51.8	1.35xSignificant	61.1 to 79.6	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	30.8	23.8	1.29xSignificant	24.8 to 37.9	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	6.2	4.8	1.29x	3.7 to 9.8	2020-2024
Bladder	New cases	23.8	18.7	1.27x	18.6 to 30	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	17.4	13.9	1.25x	13.1 to 22.7	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	14	11.3	1.24x	10.2 to 18.9	2020-2024
Esophagus	New cases	5.4	4.6	1.17x	3.1 to 8.9	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	165.6	143.2	1.16xSignificant	151.7 to 180.6	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	20.2	17.9	1.13x	15.4 to 26.1	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	479.5	453.4	1.06xSignificant	455.2 to 504.8	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	6.9	6.6	1.05x	4.3 to 10.6	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	19	18.5	1.03x	14.4 to 24.6	2019-2023
Leukemia	Deaths	5.7	5.7	1x	3.3 to 9.3	2020-2024
Thyroid	New cases	13	13	1x	9 to 18.2	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	New cases	7.8	8.7	0.9x	5 to 11.7	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	12.7	14.5	0.88x	8.9 to 17.5	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 Athens County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	9,987.7	9,842.6	+1%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	74.7	75.3	-1%	years
Child mortality	34.9	59.8	-42%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	6.4	6.2	+3%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	85.3	96.9	-12%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	40.7	28.6	+42%	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.

Formaldehyde18.2 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.93 per million
Acetaldehyde1.95 per million
Benzene1.19 per million

EPA Air Quality Index 2025

Monitored on 361 days: 301 good, 0 unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse. Median AQI 31, peak 75.

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing68
NPDES wastewater discharge permit36
Gas station (mapped facility)28
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)16
Brownfield property15
Air permit holder (minor source)10
Major air pollution source5
Small hazardous waste generator5
Heliport2
Scrapyard (mapped facility)2
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)2
EPA air quality monitor1
Commercial airport1
Dry cleaner (mapped facility)1
Large greenhouse gas emitter1
Landfill (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.

Athens Wwtp, Athens
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040027538 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5
Trimble Township Wastewater Treatment District, Glouster
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006351385 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Hockingport Mhp, Hockingport
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006351535 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Athens Co., The Plains S.D. 1 Pws-Athens Co The Plains Sd No 1, The Plains
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009689006 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Mansfield Trailer Park, Guysville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070563517 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
City Of Athens Water Treatment Plant, Athens
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110004690228 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Nelsonville Pws-Nelsonville Wtp, Nelsonville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006351330 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
The Port Campground & Docks, Hockingport
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008643129 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Gifford
EPA air quality monitor.
Record ID 390090003 (U.S. EPA AirData)
Severity 4.1
Texas Eastern Transmission Lp, Athens
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000816412 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Chauncey Wwtp, Chauncey
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006351429 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Ron Campbell Apartments, Athens
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070254823 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
City Of Nelsonville Wwtp, Nelsonville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006357691 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Ohio University Lausche Heating Plant (0605010016), Athens
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007384393 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Athens Hocking Reclamation Center *, Nelsonville
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008643575 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Ts Trim Industries Inc *, Athens
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000771585 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Federal Hocking Local School, Stewart
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006351483 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co Station No 204, Albany
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006357735 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Ccu Coal & Construction Llc D-1163, Glouster
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009153584 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Odot Torch Rest Area Wwtp, Torch
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110011014856 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Albany Wwtp, Albany
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110016767453 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Health Recovery Services, Athens
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006351606 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Athens Hocking Reclamation Center *, Nelsonville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008643575 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Village Of Amesville, Amesville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064274020 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Ambassador Laundry, Former, Athens
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110004600405 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3

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 Athens County

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