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Clay County, West Virginia: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Clay County is 211.7 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 172 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (151), Rail grade crossing (8), Air permit holder (minor source) (4). 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: 38.4646, -81.0598.

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 Clay County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Thyroid	New cases	37	13	2.85xSignificant	21 to 61	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	95.4	51.8	1.84xSignificant	72.2 to 124.9	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	32	17.9	1.79xSignificant	18 to 53.4	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	47.1	30.2	1.56xSignificant	31.8 to 68.8	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	211.7	143.2	1.48xSignificant	175.4 to 254.4	2020-2024
Bladder	New cases	27.1	18.7	1.45x	15.7 to 45.5	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	603	453.4	1.33xSignificant	538.3 to 674.2	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 Clay County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	16,179.5	9,842.6	+64%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	69.3	75.3	-8%	years
Child mortality	166.4	59.8	+178%	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	211.2	96.9	+118%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	83.2	28.6	+191%	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.

Formaldehyde16.2 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.88 per million
Acetaldehyde1.63 per million
Benzene1.01 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit151
Rail grade crossing8
Air permit holder (minor source)4
Brownfield property4
Gas station (mapped facility)4
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.

Big Otter Food Mart, Ivydale
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $54,505.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010875918 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Clay Sanitation Plant, Clay
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010866606 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Clay Healthcare Center, Big Otter
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010879335 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Anderson Heights/Maysel Manor Apts, Maysel
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010882018 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Surface Mine #1, Haulroad #1, Surface Mine 4a, Bickmore
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069578488 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Laurel Fork Surface Mine, Bickmore
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000585867 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Cari Eagle #2 Deep Mine, Bickmore
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010852611 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Sizemore Trailer Park, Maysel
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010880822 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Joes Car Wash, Maysel
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110012685914 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Clay Cnty Maintenance Hq, Clay
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038111913 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Peachorchard Preparation Plant And Haulroad No.2, Bickmore
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069578898 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Surface Mine, Bickmore
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069583481 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Monoc Surface Mine # 3, Bickmore
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069590696 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Winoc Preparation Plan And Big Branch Refuse Facility, Bickmore
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069591631 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Peach Orchard Surface Mine No. 5, Bickmore
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069594120 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Monoc No. 4 Surface Mine, Bickmore
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069596887 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Surface Mine No. 6, Bickmore
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069603566 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Meadow Creek #2, Bickmore
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069605047 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Spring Branch No. 3 Deep Mine, Bickmore
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069605859 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Ike Fork No. 1 Surface Mine, Bickmore
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069607107 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Bullpen Surface Mine, Bickmore
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069995037 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Gauley Knob Surface Mine, Bickmore
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069995487 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Surface Mine #2 And Surface Mine #2-A, Bickmore
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069997611 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Town Of Clay Water Treatment Plant, Clay
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110012291563 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Elm Refuse Area And #6 Deep Mine, Drennen
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069572581 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8

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 Clay 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 Clay 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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