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Unicoi County, Tennessee: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Unicoi County is 169.1 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 1.3 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 99 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (52), Rail grade crossing (17), Air permit holder (minor source) (12). 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: 36.107, -82.4751.

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 Unicoi County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	40	30.2	1.32xSignificant	30.5 to 52.2	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	22.3	17.9	1.25x	13.9 to 34.1	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	15.9	13	1.22x	8.8 to 26.6	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	61.9	51.8	1.19x	50 to 76.5	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	169.1	143.2	1.18xSignificant	148.3 to 192.5	2020-2024
Leukemia	New cases	14.9	14.5	1.03x	8.5 to 24.6	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	11.3	11.3	1x	6.6 to 19	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	23.6	23.8	0.99x	15.8 to 34.5	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	412.1	453.4	0.91x	377.4 to 449.5	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	16.4	18.5	0.89x	10.1 to 25.8	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	10.8	13.9	0.78x	6.1 to 18.6	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	13.7	18.7	0.73x	8.5 to 21.9	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 Unicoi County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	13,765.2	9,842.6	+40%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	71.2	75.3	-5%	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	131.8	96.9	+36%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	47.1	28.6	+65%	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.

Formaldehyde16.28 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.75 per million
Acetaldehyde1.43 per million
Benzene0.72 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit52
Rail grade crossing17
Air permit holder (minor source)12
Gas station (mapped facility)9
TRI reporting facility3
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)3
Brownfield property1
Large hazardous waste generator1
Heliport1

Highest-severity records

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

Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. (Nfs), Erwin
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000372230 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
Nuclear Fuel Services Inc, Erwin
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Nitric acid. 127,746 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 37650NCLRF205BA (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.9
Erwin Utilities Authority, Erwin
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006367699 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.8
Specialty Tires Of America, Unicoi
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000372374 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Tn Tennessee Llc, Erwin Plant, Erwin
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001129065 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. (Nfs), Erwin
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000372230 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. (Nfs), Erwin
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000372230 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Morrill Electric, Inc, Flag Pond
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038026766 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Tn Tennessee Llc - Erwin, Erwin
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Chromium, Manganese.
TRI facility ID 37650NNBLL800TE (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 3
Specialty Tires Of America (Tn) Llc, Unicoi
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Zinc compounds.
TRI facility ID 37692SPCLT1000D (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 3
Summers-Taylor Materials Company, Unicoi
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $1,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069996472 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Summers-Taylor Materials Company, Unicoi
Air permit holder (minor source). Penalties $1,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069996472 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. (Nfs), Erwin
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110000372230 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Specialty Tires Of America, Unicoi
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000372374 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Tn Tennessee Llc, Erwin Plant, Erwin
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001129065 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Duncan Mechanical Inc, Erwin
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069999838 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Regal Beloit America, Inc. Dba Shallow Ford, Erwin
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000372221 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Csx Transportation Rail Yard, Erwin
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000820862 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Erwin Resinsolutions, Llc, Erwin
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001865651 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Usdi-Fws Erwin National Fish Hatchery, Erwin
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006663636 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Twra - Erwin State Fish Hatchery, Erwin
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006663654 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Buffalo Valley Stp, Unicoi
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006690232 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Unicoi Quarry, Unicoi
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007188907 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Summers-Taylor Inc. - Unicoi County (Erwin) Concrete Plant, Erwin
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009789871 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Erwin Utilities Railroad Well Water Treatment Plant Upgrade; Howard C. Brown Wat, Erwin
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110044257443 (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 Unicoi 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 Unicoi 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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