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Houston County, Tennessee: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Houston County is 200 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 2.2 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 27 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (11), Air permit holder (minor source) (10), Gas station (mapped facility) (3). 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: 36.2734, -87.7325.

How this county ranks in Tennessee

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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 Houston County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	65.5	30.2	2.17xSignificant	47.6 to 89.3	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	86.2	51.8	1.66xSignificant	65.2 to 113.1	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	200	143.2	1.4xSignificant	166.2 to 239.6	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	483.4	453.4	1.07x	426.4 to 546.6	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 Houston County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	14,335.6	9,842.6	+46%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	70.9	75.3	-6%	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	135.6	96.9	+40%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	72.5	28.6	+153%	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.

Formaldehyde22.19 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.92 per million
Acetaldehyde2.27 per million
Benzene0.73 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit11
Air permit holder (minor source)10
Gas station (mapped facility)3
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)2
Public airport1

Highest-severity records

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

Erin Stp / Wwtp, Erin
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $760.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009706684 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Yellow Creek Stone, Llc, Cumberland City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071074442 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Houston County, Mc Kinnon
Public airport. O.
Record ID M93 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Tdot - Statewide, Tennessee
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064033166 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Ralph Largent Sawmill, Inc., Erin
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069999732 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Danville Landing Public Recreation Area, Houston
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070067356 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Wrights Farm, Erin
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070622416 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Erin Stp / Wwtp, Erin
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070917568 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Cumberland Fossil Plant - City Of Erin, Cumberland City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071146124 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
City Of Erin - Buckeye Road Force Main Addition, Erin
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071437463 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Houston County Dg, Erin
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072147416 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Johnsonville Tva Employees Credit Union-Erin Site, Erin
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID x53f189db17ad76d2bd5add2c931d1519 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Southern Gage, Inc., Erin
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110001859677 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
Farm & Feed Supply, Erin
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110001865036 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
Ryes Automotive, Erin
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110058897779 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
Complete Maintenance Co, Tennessee
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110063227351 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
Browns Ferry Auto Service, Tennessee
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110063227360 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
Bill Fryers Auto Service, Tennessee
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110063227850 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
Quality Exxon, Tennessee
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110063227869 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
Lonnie'S Auto Service, Tennessee
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110063231676 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
Jiffy Lube International, Tennessee
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110063231685 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
Brentwood Shell, Tennessee
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110063233601 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
Uptown Automotive, Erin
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/1420512998 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 1
Rye's Automotive, Erin
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/1420512999 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 1
Marathon
Gas station (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/1559985591 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 1

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 Houston County

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