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Dickenson County, Virginia: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Dickenson County is 195.3 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 291 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (193), Air permit holder (minor source) (47), Rail grade crossing (33). One correctional facility operates in the county. 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: 37.1309, -82.3606.

How this county ranks in Virginia

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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 Dickenson County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	48	30.2	1.59xSignificant	36.1 to 63.5	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	195.3	143.2	1.36xSignificant	169.7 to 224.5	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	65.5	51.8	1.26x	50.9 to 83.8	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	13.9	11.3	1.23x	7.7 to 24.2	2020-2024
Leukemia	New cases	17.8	14.5	1.23x	10.7 to 28.9	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	20.4	17.9	1.14x	11.9 to 33.2	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	14.8	18.5	0.8x	8.3 to 25.3	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	358.1	453.4	0.79x	321.4 to 398.5	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 Dickenson County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	13,594.9	9,842.6	+38%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	71.9	75.3	-4%	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	153.3	96.9	+58%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	64.9	28.6	+127%	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.

Formaldehyde16.48 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.81 per million
Acetaldehyde1.57 per million
Benzene1.06 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit193
Air permit holder (minor source)47
Rail grade crossing33
Gas station (mapped facility)8
Brownfield property4
Major air pollution source2
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)1
Correctional facility (prison or jail)1
Small hazardous waste generator1
Landfill (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.

Ridgeview Campus, Clintwood
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $3,062.
EPA FRS registry ID 110046127632 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Mine #1, Clinchco
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070918430 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Deep Mine #44, Mcclure
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070926343 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Baden Surface Remining Permit, Baden
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070926666 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Dismal Fork Deep Mines, Dante
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070927200 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
88 Strip, Duty
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070927601 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Vfc Surface Mine #1, Trammel
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070927948 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Long Branch Auger Mine, Aily
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070929081 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Deep Mine #37, Dwale
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070929102 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Bear Ridge Deep Mine, Trammel
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070929794 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Mcclure Prep Plant, Mcclure
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070929944 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Deep Mine #41, Mcclure
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070930288 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Hamilton George Residences Stp, Clintwood
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070831272 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Deep Mine 42, Mcclure
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070927657 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
East Tennessee Natural Gas Company/Station 3401, Nora
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007318599 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Dickenson-Russell Coal Co/Mcclure River, Mcclure
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009767993 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Carico Ridge Highwall Mine, Nora
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070924364 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Davis No. 1 Mine, Darwin
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070929738 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Powers Branch Deep Mine, Pound
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070925767 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Haysi High School, Haysi
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071972281 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Clintwood High School, Clintwood
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071972282 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Red Onion Mine, Clintwood
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071975307 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Clincho Volunteer Fire Department, Clinchco
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071981412 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Dickenson-Russell Coal Co/Mcclure River, Mcclure
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009767993 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Deep Mine #25, Clintwood
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070930738 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3

Correctional facilities

Prisons, jails and corrections operations with an EPA facility record, and the drinking water and wastewater compliance attached to them.

Sw Va Regional Jail Authority - Haysi, Haysi
EPA FRS registry ID
110020683385
Wastewater permit
None on record
EPA detailed facility report

Discovery / public records

Records to request for Dickenson County

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