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Nelson County, Virginia: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Nelson County is 171.2 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Leukemia deaths at 2.2 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 140 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (50), Rail grade crossing (44), Gas station (mapped facility) (19). 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: 37.7916, -78.9043.

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 Nelson County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Leukemia	Deaths	12.3	5.7	2.16xSignificant	6.4 to 22.4	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	37.7	30.2	1.25x	27.9 to 51	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	171.2	143.2	1.2xSignificant	148.6 to 197	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	60	51.8	1.16x	47.8 to 75.4	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	20.3	17.9	1.13x	12 to 32.8	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	20.1	18.5	1.09x	12.5 to 31.4	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	15.2	14.5	1.05x	8.5 to 26.2	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	24.8	23.8	1.04x	16.6 to 36.7	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	427.1	453.4	0.94x	390 to 467.5	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	10.6	11.3	0.94x	5.9 to 19	2020-2024
Bladder	New cases	17.3	18.7	0.93x	11 to 27.2	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	10.9	13.9	0.78x	6.4 to 19.2	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 Nelson County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	8,481.3	9,842.6	-14%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	76.7	75.3	+2%	years
Child mortality	88.1	59.8	+47%	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	125.7	96.9	+30%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	n/a	28.6	n/a	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.

Formaldehyde17.07 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.89 per million
Acetaldehyde1.61 per million
Benzene0.8 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit50
Rail grade crossing44
Gas station (mapped facility)19
Air permit holder (minor source)17
Public airport6
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)2
Heliport1
Superfund (NPL) site1

Highest-severity records

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

U.S. Titanium, Piney River
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 34.8. NPL Site.
EPA site ID VAD980705404 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Wintergreen Mountain Wwtp, Wintergreen
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $35,741.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010915484 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Nelson County Regional Stp, Lovingston
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010912423 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Gladstone Sewage Treatment Plant, Gladstone
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009768117 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Schuyler Stp, Schuyler
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010916125 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Gates Multiple Residence, Shipman
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071299487 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Sexton Air Bnb, Tyro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071944217 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Wintergreen Stoney Creek Stp, Wintergreen
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009767724 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Camp Blue Ridge Stp, Montebello
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010914065 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Schuyler Wtp, Schuyler
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010912986 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Mystic Mountain Talkhouse, Afton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070686499 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Sunny Mountain, Lovingston
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071784418 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Polycor Virginia Churchill, Schuyler
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007027396 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Montebello Fish Cultural Station, Montebello
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015313882 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Turman Tye River Llc, Arrington
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110020668053 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Meridian Hollow, Roseland
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070596712 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Gutierrez And Valencia Residence, Roseland
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070598157 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Wood Barbara Residence, Schuyler
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070598872 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Harris Iii James E And Crystal D Residence, Arrington
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070598882 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Mostly Maples Nursery Llc, Afton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070601436 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Nash Lewis Residence, Schuyler
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070601438 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Rutherford Enterprises Llc Residence, Faber
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070601634 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Chaplin Iii Robert Rogers Residence, Roseland
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070601693 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Glade Llc Residence, Schuyler
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070602712 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Begeman Mark Residence, Montebello
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070603693 (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 Nelson 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 Nelson 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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