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Polk County, Tennessee: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Polk County is 192.6 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 1.7 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 120 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (57), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (37), Gas station (mapped facility) (13). 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: 35.1393, -84.5098.

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 Polk County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	52.6	30.2	1.74xSignificant	41.3 to 66.6	2020-2024
Leukemia	New cases	20	14.5	1.38x	12.7 to 30.5	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	192.6	143.2	1.34xSignificant	169.4 to 218.6	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	67	51.8	1.29xSignificant	54.2 to 82.6	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	14.4	11.3	1.27x	8.7 to 23.1	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	23.1	18.5	1.25x	15 to 34.3	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	21.7	17.9	1.21x	13.8 to 33	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	21.5	18.7	1.15x	14.6 to 31.3	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	440.9	453.4	0.97x	404.5 to 480.2	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	15.4	23.8	0.65x	8.9 to 25.4	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 Polk County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	14,383.7	9,842.6	+46%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	70.7	75.3	-6%	years
Child mortality	68.3	59.8	+14%	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	110.2	96.9	+14%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	22.9	28.6	-20%	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.

Formaldehyde21.43 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.85 per million
Acetaldehyde2.14 per million
Benzene0.77 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing57
NPDES wastewater discharge permit37
Gas station (mapped facility)13
Air permit holder (minor source)4
Hydroelectric plant3
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)2
Airfield1
Public airport1
Small hazardous waste generator1
Wastewater plant (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.

Copper Basin Utility, Turtletown
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110012846395 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Benton Stp, Benton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009786455 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Copper Basin Ud Stp, Turtletown
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006663967 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Old Fort Quarry, Old Fort
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $816.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064253169 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Martin Campbell Fld, Copperhill
Public airport. O.
Record ID 1A3 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
London Flotation Plant
Wastewater plant (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/1353209324 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Ocoee Ridge Summer Camp, Ocoee
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070012010 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Intertrade Holdings, Inc., Copperhill
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000589934 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Tva-Apalachia Hydro, Farner
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006887164 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Tva Ocoee No 2 Hydro Plant, Benton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007843593 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Vulcan Construction Materials, Llc - Polk County Quarry And Tennessee Valley Aut, Benton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009785535 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Copperhill Stp, Copperhill
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010124944 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Ocoee 1, Benton
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110013197726 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Ocoee 1, Benton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110013197726 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Conasauga Wood Preservers, Inc., Old Fort
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069999836 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Woodlands Of Polk County - Phase 6, 7 & 8, Old Fort
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070003485 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Woodlands Of Polk County - Phase Ii, Old Fort
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070008933 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Copperhill Industries, Llc, Copperhill
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070048562 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Hiwassee Poultry Farm/Dwight Dalton Farm, Benton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070248862 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Mona And Larry'S, Reliance
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070824518 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Forge Treatment Center Resident Building, Benton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071364457 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Food City - Ocoee, Tn, Ocoee
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071410057 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Tiny Home Resort, Copperhill
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071525907 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Blue Ridge On The River Llc, Copperhill
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071527856 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Ocoee Ridge, Benton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071539214 (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 Polk 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 Polk 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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