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Lexington County, South Carolina: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Lexington County is 159 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Brain & nervous system deaths at 1.3 times the U.S. rate and Lung & bronchus deaths at 1.2 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 1,369 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (734), Gas station (mapped facility) (179), Rail grade crossing (132). 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: 33.9235, -81.2839.

How this county ranks in South 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 Lexington County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Brain & nervous system	Deaths	5.9	4.4	1.34xSignificant	4.8 to 7.1	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	36.7	30.2	1.22xSignificant	34 to 39.5	2020-2024
Bladder	Deaths	4.7	4.1	1.15x	3.7 to 5.8	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	5.5	4.8	1.15x	4.5 to 6.8	2020-2024
Pancreas	Deaths	12.7	11.3	1.12x	11.2 to 14.5	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	7.4	6.6	1.12x	6.2 to 8.7	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	Deaths	3.8	3.4	1.12x	3 to 4.8	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	159	143.2	1.11xSignificant	153.3 to 164.9	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	57.5	51.8	1.11xSignificant	54.2 to 61	2019-2023
Leukemia	Deaths	6.2	5.7	1.09x	5.1 to 7.4	2020-2024
Esophagus	Deaths	4	3.7	1.08x	3.1 to 5	2020-2024
Esophagus	New cases	4.8	4.6	1.04x	3.9 to 5.9	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	18.6	17.9	1.04x	16.6 to 20.7	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	New cases	6.3	6.2	1.02x	5.2 to 7.7	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	18.9	18.7	1.01x	17 to 21	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	455.8	453.4	1.01x	445.9 to 465.9	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	13.7	13.9	0.99x	12 to 15.6	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	New cases	8.4	8.7	0.97x	7.1 to 9.8	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	13.4	14.5	0.92x	11.7 to 15.3	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	11.8	13	0.91x	10.1 to 13.7	2019-2023
Stomach	Deaths	2.4	2.7	0.89x	1.7 to 3.2	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	16.4	18.5	0.89x	14.6 to 18.5	2019-2023
Stomach	New cases	5.8	6.6	0.88x	4.7 to 7	2019-2023
Childhood cancer (under 15)	New cases	14.2	16.4	0.87x	10.1 to 19.3	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	Deaths	1.7	2	0.85x	1.2 to 2.4	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	20.2	23.8	0.85x	18.2 to 22.5	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 Lexington County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	8,865.4	9,842.6	-10%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	76.1	75.3	+1%	years
Child mortality	52.5	59.8	-12%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	6.1	6.2	-2%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	99.6	96.9	+3%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	35.1	28.6	+23%	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.

Formaldehyde24.23 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.92 per million
Acetaldehyde2.38 per million
Benzene1.07 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

1,369 active records inside the county from EPA ECHO, TRI, Superfund, Brownfields, NPDES, EIA, FAA, FRA and corrections data.

NPDES wastewater discharge permit734
Gas station (mapped facility)179
Rail grade crossing132
Air permit holder (minor source)89
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)60
Small hazardous waste generator42
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)24
TRI reporting facility19
Large hazardous waste generator17
Brownfield property13
Scrapyard (mapped facility)9
Public airport8
Major air pollution source7
Solar power plant7
Dry cleaner (mapped facility)6
Hazardous waste transporter6
Large greenhouse gas emitter4
Landfill (mapped facility)3
Superfund (NPL) site3
Heliport2
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)2
Commercial airport1
Hydroelectric plant1
Gas power 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.

Palmetto Wood Preserving, Dixiana
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 38.4. NPL Site.
EPA site ID SCD003362217 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Lexington County Landfill Area, Cayce
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 37.9. NPL Site.
EPA site ID SCD980558043 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
SCRDI Dixiana, Cayce
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 40.7. NPL Site.
EPA site ID SCD980711394 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Shaw Industries Group Inc Plant 8s, Columbia
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000854246 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 9.1
Tidewater Boats Llc, Lexington
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Styrene. Reports carcinogens. 785,825 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 2907WTDWTR142BR (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 9
Tidewater Boats Llc, Lexington
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Styrene. Reports carcinogens. 159,205 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 2907WTDWTR12GLA (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.5
Cmc Steel Sc, Cayce
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Zinc compounds, Manganese And Manganese Compounds, Lead And Lead Compounds, Chromium and Chromium Compounds(except for chromite ore mined in the Transvaal Region) and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 49,473 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 29033WNLCT310NE (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.1
Michelin N.A. Inc, Lexington
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Zinc compounds, Lead And Lead Compounds, Lead compounds, Cobalt And Cobalt Compounds and 2 more. Reports carcinogens. 6,064 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 29072MCHLN2420T (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.4
Apex Tool Group Llc - Lexington Operations, Lexington
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Methanol, Lead. Reports carcinogens. 5,372 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 29072CPRPW670IN (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.4
Shaw Industries Group Inc Plant 8s, Columbia
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution). 234,697 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 29210LLDFB4402S (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.1
Safety-Kleen Systems Inc., Lexington
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Toluene, n-Butyl alcohol, Xylene (mixed isomers), Ethylbenzene and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 2,363 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 29073SFTYK130AF (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.1
Batesburg-Leesville Waste Water Treatment Facility, Batesburg
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $4,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001209095 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
Stein Llc, Cayce
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Manganese compounds, Manganese And Manganese Compounds, Nickel compounds, Chromium compounds (except for chromite ore mined in the Transvaal Region) and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 351 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 29033MSDVT31NEW (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.5
South Carolina Industrial Holdings, West Columbia
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Copper, Lead, Lead And Lead Compounds. Reports carcinogens. 286 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 29170PBRCL21MET (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.4
Tidewater Boats, Llc, Lexington
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070949504 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.4
Electro-Spec Inc, Lexington
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nickel compounds, Nitric acid, Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution). Reports carcinogens. 134 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 2907WLCTRS37IND (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.1
Stanley L. Goodwin Water Treatment Plant, West Columbia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000557905 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Shaw Industries Group Inc Plant 8s, Columbia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000854246 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Chapin Sewage System, Chapin
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006623083 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Owen Electric Steel Company Of South Carolina, Cayce
Major air pollution source. Penalties $48,900.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072238427 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Nucor Building Systems, Swansea
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Manganese, Nickel, Lead. Reports carcinogens. 72 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 29160NCRBL200WH (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.9
Cmc Steel Sc, Cayce
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000351887 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.9
Tanner Industries Inc., Swansea
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia. 3,594 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 29160TNNRN115WH (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.7
Columbia Farms/House Of Raeford, West Columbia
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Peracetic acid. 2,445 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 29169CLMBF338SU (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.6
The Sefa Group Llc - Mcmeekin Star Facility, Columbia
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Barium And Barium Compounds, Arsenic And Arsenic Compounds, Lead And Lead Compounds, Mercury And Mercury Compounds. Reports carcinogens. 19 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 2921WTHSFG2NLAK (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.5

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 Lexington County

South 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 Lexington County, and their findings.
South 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.
South Carolina health department, environmental epidemiology
Health consultations or assessments by ATSDR or the state health department covering the county, and any exposure investigations.
South 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.
South 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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