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Boone County, West Virginia: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Boone County is 190.5 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 461 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (287), Rail grade crossing (137), 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: 37.9974, -81.7142.

How this county ranks in West 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 Boone County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	59.6	30.2	1.97xSignificant	48.2 to 73.4	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	99.8	51.8	1.93xSignificant	84.9 to 117	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	20.7	13	1.59x	12.8 to 31.7	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	28.4	17.9	1.59xSignificant	20.2 to 39.3	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	New cases	12.3	8.7	1.41x	7.5 to 19.8	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	32.2	23.8	1.35x	23.3 to 43.6	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	190.5	143.2	1.33xSignificant	169.4 to 213.9	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	527.4	453.4	1.16xSignificant	490.4 to 566.8	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	21.5	18.7	1.15x	14.6 to 31	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	13.9	14.5	0.96x	8.4 to 22.1	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	15.8	18.5	0.85x	10.2 to 24	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	9.3	13.9	0.67x	5.2 to 16	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 Boone County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	17,744.3	9,842.6	+80%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	68.9	75.3	-8%	years
Child mortality	72.8	59.8	+22%	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	190.2	96.9	+96%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	108.9	28.6	+281%	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.

Formaldehyde17.44 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.87 per million
Acetaldehyde1.73 per million
Benzene1.04 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit287
Rail grade crossing137
Air permit holder (minor source)21
Gas station (mapped facility)9
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)3
Major air pollution source1
Brownfield property1
Small hazardous waste generator1
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.

Eagle Energy, Inc., Van Plant, Van
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $97,570.
EPA FRS registry ID 110002478257 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Eagle Energy, Inc., Van Plant, Van
Air permit holder (minor source). Penalties $97,570.
EPA FRS registry ID 110002478257 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5
Whitesville Wwtp, Whitesville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010860318 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Valley Vista Mhp, Racine
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010879433 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Falcon Surface Mine, Gordon
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069995072 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Hobet Mining Llc, Madison
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000585885 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Omar Mining Co, Madison
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000585894 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Chess Processing, Sylvester
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000775242 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Eastern Assoc Coal Corp, Wharton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007875219 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Hobet Mining Llc, Danville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007888517 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Rockwell Mining, Llc, Rocklick Prep Plant, Wharton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007892879 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Bragg Fork Impoundment, Madison
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010852327 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Aracoma Coal Company, Van
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010856993 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Justice No. 1 Deep Mine, Justice Mine, Bull Creek Air Shaft, Madison
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010857634 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Jackson County, Peytona
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010859838 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Buffalo Creek / Dorothy 1, Wharton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010859981 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Colony Bay Coal Co Sma 49, Barrett
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010862085 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Spruce Laurel Loadout, Charleston
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010862414 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Big Mountain Preparation Plant & Refuse Area, Madison
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010862496 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Colony Bay South Area, Wharton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010863280 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Jupiter Holdings, Llc, Bob White
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015681225 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Bender'S Salvage, Chapmanville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110031398039 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Boone Cnty Maint. Hq, Danville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038111931 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Cut 30 Surface Mine, Cabin Creek
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038522060 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Mine No. 1, Wharton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040045527 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3

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 Boone County

West 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 Boone County, and their findings.
West 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.
West Virginia health department, environmental epidemiology
Health consultations or assessments by ATSDR or the state health department covering the county, and any exposure investigations.
West 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.
West 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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