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Johnson County, Tennessee: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Johnson County is 180 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 1.6 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 69 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (53), Air permit holder (minor source) (6), Gas station (mapped facility) (3). EPA AirToxScreen estimates a lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics of 20 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: 36.4381, -81.8519.

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 Johnson County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	47.9	30.2	1.59xSignificant	37.2 to 61.3	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	10.2	6.6	1.55x	5.9 to 17.5	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	180	143.2	1.26xSignificant	157.9 to 204.8	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	63	51.8	1.22x	50.8 to 77.9	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	New cases	10.5	8.7	1.21x	6.1 to 18	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	24.9	23.8	1.05x	16.8 to 36.1	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	18.6	18.7	0.99x	12.4 to 27.7	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	17.1	18.5	0.92x	10.6 to 26.8	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	401.8	453.4	0.89x	368.1 to 438.1	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 Johnson County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	13,388.4	9,842.6	+36%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	72.3	75.3	-4%	years
Child mortality	75.7	59.8	+27%	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	149.4	96.9	+54%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	61	28.6	+113%	deaths per 100,000

Air toxics and air quality

EPA AirToxScreen 2020

Lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics: 20 in a million. EPA treats 100 in a million as the upper end of acceptable risk and 1 in a million as the goal.

Formaldehyde14.38 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.72 per million
Acetaldehyde1.26 per million
Benzene0.61 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit53
Air permit holder (minor source)6
Gas station (mapped facility)3
Public airport1
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)1
Brownfield property1
Small hazardous waste generator1
Heliport1
TRI reporting facility1
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)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.

Mountain City Wwtp, Mountain City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039855252 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Tn Mountain City, Llc, Mountain City
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070244695 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Billy Stout Construction, Mountain City
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039062821 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Tn Mountain City Llc, Mountain City
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Chromium, Manganese.
TRI facility ID 3768WTNMNT378IN (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 3
Maymead Materials, Inc., Mountain City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007187604 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Phoenix Medical Products, Inc., Mountain City
Small hazardous waste generator. Penalties $11,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110062917839 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Maymead Materials, Inc., Mountain City
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110007187604 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Mountain City Water Dept., Mountain City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110033014271 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Appalachian Materials, Llc, Trade
Air permit holder (minor source). Penalties $3,314.
EPA FRS registry ID 110056297733 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Johnson County, Mountain City
Public airport. O.
Record ID 6A4 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Tn Tennessee, Llc (Formerly Nn Ball & Roller), Mountain City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110004987710 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Cook Hollow Quarry, Butler
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010129707 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Tennessee Aggregates Llc Dba Middle Quarry, Butler
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110031110385 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Maymead Materials, Inc., Mountain City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070003635 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Mountain City Plant 506, Mountain City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006802479 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Johnson County Quarry, Mountain City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009785679 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Doe Creek Quartzite Mine, Butler
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009786080 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Shoun Lumber, Butler
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110056984241 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
New River Hardwoods, Mountain City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064420381 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
New River Hardwoods, Mountain City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070000206 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Appalachian Materials Llc, Trade
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070002524 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Watauga Lake - Phase 1, Butler
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070669080 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Dollar General, Mountain City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070816894 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Vocational Subdivision Phase 2, Mountain City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070816911 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Grindstone Knob, Shady Valley
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070830157 (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 Johnson 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 Johnson 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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