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Rhea County, Tennessee: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Rhea County is 198.8 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 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 238 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (109), Rail grade crossing (48), Air permit holder (minor source) (21). 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: 35.6157, -84.9153.

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 Rhea County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	60.4	30.2	2xSignificant	50.9 to 71.4	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	87.4	51.8	1.69xSignificant	75.8 to 100.5	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	Deaths	7.4	4.4	1.68x	4.2 to 12.2	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	27.9	17.9	1.56xSignificant	21 to 36.5	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	6.8	4.8	1.42x	3.9 to 11.2	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	198.8	143.2	1.39xSignificant	180.7 to 218.4	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	24	18.5	1.3x	17.6 to 31.9	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	New cases	8	6.2	1.29x	4.5 to 13.4	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	14.4	11.3	1.27x	9.8 to 20.6	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	8.3	6.6	1.26x	5 to 13.3	2020-2024
Leukemia	Deaths	6.8	5.7	1.19x	3.8 to 11.5	2020-2024
Bladder	New cases	22	18.7	1.18x	16 to 29.6	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	495.8	453.4	1.09xSignificant	466.3 to 526.8	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	15.1	13.9	1.09x	10.4 to 21.5	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	New cases	9	8.7	1.03x	5.3 to 14.4	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	13	14.5	0.9x	8.8 to 18.9	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	15.4	23.8	0.65x	10.6 to 21.8	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 Rhea County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	13,334.4	9,842.6	+35%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	71.4	75.3	-5%	years
Child mortality	57.8	59.8	-3%	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	109.3	96.9	+13%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	45.9	28.6	+60%	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.

Formaldehyde21.99 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.87 per million
Acetaldehyde2.24 per million
Benzene0.87 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit109
Rail grade crossing48
Air permit holder (minor source)21
Gas station (mapped facility)21
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)8
TRI reporting facility7
Major air pollution source5
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)4
Brownfield property2
Large hazardous waste generator2
Small hazardous waste generator2
Scrapyard (mapped facility)2
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)2
Public airport1
Large greenhouse gas emitter1
Landfill (mapped facility)1
Hydroelectric plant1
Nuclear 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.

Huber Engineered Woods Llc Spring City Facility, Spring City
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Methanol, Formaldehyde, Acetaldehyde, Diisocyanates and 2 more. Reports carcinogens. 281,399 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 37381JMHBR1261D (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.7
Fujifilm Hunt Chemicals U.S.A., Inc., Dayton
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $25,990.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038493403 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 8.2
Cymer Llc Dayton, Dayton
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Toluene, Methanol, Triethylamine, Xylene (mixed isomers) and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 30,723 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 37321FJHNT411MA (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.9
General Shale Brick Inc Plant 42, Spring City
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Hydrochloric acid (acid aerosols including mists, vapors, gas, fog, and other airborne forms of any particle size), Hydrogen fluoride, Lead, Manganese compounds. Reports carcinogens. 3,863 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 3738WGNRLS241HY (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.3
Us Tva Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Spring City
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead, Hydrazine. Reports carcinogens. 1,875 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 37381STVWT7MILE (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7
Dayton Stp, Dayton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $1,952.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009789078 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
Bac Dayton, Dayton
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nickel, Chromium, Copper. Reports carcinogens. 389 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 37321GDMNM99MAN (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.5
Fujifilm Hunt Chemicals U.S.A., Inc., Dayton
Major air pollution source. Penalties $25,990.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038493403 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.3
Huber Engineered Woods, Llc, Spring City
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000371525 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.2
Fujifilm Hunt Chemicals U.S.A., Inc., Dayton
Large hazardous waste generator. Penalties $25,990.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038493403 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.8
Fujifilm Hunt Chemicals U.S.A., Inc., Dayton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $25,990.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038493403 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.8
Tva Watts Bar Hydro Plant, Spring City
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006887173 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.7
Goodman Manufacturing Co Lp - Dayton, Dayton
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110022810911 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
General Shale Brick - Plant 42, Spring City
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110037516765 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.4
La-Z-Boy Tennessee, Dayton
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead, Lead And Lead Compounds. Reports carcinogens. 5 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 37321LZBYTWALNU (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.1
Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Spring City
Nuclear power plant.
Record ID 7722 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 5
Nokian Tyres, Dayton
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070597539 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Spring City New Lake Rd Plt, Spring City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039852095 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
La-Z-Boy Tennessee, Dayton
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000371320 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.1
Nokian Tyres, Dayton
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Zinc compounds. 9 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 3732WNKNTY15GRE (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 3.8
Rhea County Landfill/Isantek Environment, Dayton
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110031252962 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
La-Z-Boy Tennessee, Dayton
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000371320 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Huber Engineered Woods, Llc, Spring City
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000371525 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Tva Watts Bar Hydro Plant, Spring City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006887173 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Goodman Manufacturing Co Lp - Dayton, Dayton
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110022810911 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5

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 Rhea 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 Rhea 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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