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Lee County, Virginia: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Lee County is 202.1 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 2.1 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 265 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (142), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (58), Air permit holder (minor source) (28). One correctional facility operates in the county. 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: 36.7432, -82.9803.

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 Lee County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	64.7	30.2	2.14xSignificant	53.5 to 77.9	2020-2024
Pancreas	Deaths	16.7	11.3	1.48x	10.9 to 25	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	202.1	143.2	1.41xSignificant	181.4 to 225	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	68	51.8	1.31xSignificant	56.6 to 81.5	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	15.8	13.9	1.14x	10.2 to 23.9	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	12	14.5	0.83x	7.1 to 19.5	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	328.5	453.4	0.72x	300.3 to 359	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	10.7	18.5	0.58x	6.2 to 17.8	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 Lee County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	13,058.5	9,842.6	+33%	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	114.7	96.9	+18%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	22.3	28.6	-22%	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.

Formaldehyde17.88 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.81 per million
Acetaldehyde1.83 per million
Benzene0.73 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing142
NPDES wastewater discharge permit58
Air permit holder (minor source)28
Gas station (mapped facility)17
Brownfield property6
Small hazardous waste generator3
Public airport2
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)1
Correctional facility (prison or jail)1
Large greenhouse gas emitter1
Industrial wastewater discharge1
Landfill (mapped facility)1
Scrapyard (mapped facility)1
TRI reporting facility1
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)1
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.

Us Penitentiary Lee, Pennington Gap
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead compounds, Lead And Lead Compounds. 8,049 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 24277SPNTNLEECI (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6
Us Federal Bureau Of Prisons Lee, Pennington Gap
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006910290 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Vfc - State Line Strip, Keokee
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070924901 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Vfc - Western Strip, Keokee
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070925518 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Vfc - Calvin Facilities, Calvin
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070926425 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Vfc-Southern Strip, Keokee
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070927862 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Vfc - Hobcaw #1, Stone Creek
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070930737 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Vfc - Eastern Strip, Keokee
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070930906 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Hinkle Contracting Company Llc - Ewing Stone, Ewing
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110046385167 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Kwick Kleen Car Wash Incorporated, Ewing
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070563765 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Lmp Preparation Plant, Monarch
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070925741 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Mrc No. 1, Purcell
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070927201 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Keokee Community Center Stp, Keokee
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070602935 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Vfc - Eastern Strip, Keokee
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070928462 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Hinkle Contracting Company Llc - Ewing Stone, Ewing
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110046385167 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Stone Creek Tipple Site, Pennington Gap
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038708547 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Keokee High School, Keokee
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071972280 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Bailey-Robbins Building, Pennington Gap
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071978551 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Creech Building, Pennington Gap
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071978553 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Jonesville High School, Jonesville
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072154693 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Former Gasoline Service Station, Pennington Gap
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072219085 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Lee County Public Service Authority-Rose Hill Wwtp, Rose Hill
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009767421 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Boones Llc Stp, Ewing
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070604126 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Vfc - Stone Creek Mine, Stone Creek
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070925294 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Bluegrass Natural Resources Llc [Consolidated], Closplint
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071404827 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8

Correctional facilities

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

Us Federal Bureau Of Prisons Lee, Pennington Gap
EPA FRS registry ID
110006910290
Wastewater permit
None on record
EPA detailed facility report

Discovery / public records

Records to request for Lee 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 Lee 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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