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Fayette County, West Virginia: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Fayette County is 209.4 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Esophagus deaths at 2.2 times the U.S. rate and Bladder deaths at 1.9 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 503 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (215), Rail grade crossing (126), Brownfield property (107). 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: 38.0414, -81.0962.

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 Fayette County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Esophagus	Deaths	8.2	3.7	2.22xSignificant	5.1 to 12.7	2020-2024
Bladder	Deaths	7.8	4.1	1.9xSignificant	5 to 12	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	56	30.2	1.85xSignificant	48 to 65.2	2020-2024
Thyroid	New cases	23.1	13	1.78xSignificant	16.6 to 31.3	2019-2023
Esophagus	New cases	7.8	4.6	1.7xSignificant	4.7 to 12.3	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	87.6	51.8	1.69xSignificant	77.4 to 99	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	209.4	143.2	1.46xSignificant	193.2 to 226.8	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	26.7	18.5	1.44xSignificant	20.7 to 34	2019-2023
Leukemia	Deaths	8.1	5.7	1.42x	5.1 to 12.5	2020-2024
Bladder	New cases	25	18.7	1.34xSignificant	19.6 to 31.7	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	14.9	11.3	1.32x	10.8 to 20.2	2020-2024
Pancreas	New cases	17.7	13.9	1.27x	13.2 to 23.4	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	6	4.8	1.25x	3.6 to 9.8	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	533.4	453.4	1.18xSignificant	505.9 to 562.1	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	19.7	17.9	1.1x	14.8 to 25.9	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	15.3	14.5	1.06x	10.8 to 21.2	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	New cases	8.3	8.7	0.95x	5.3 to 12.5	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	5.6	6.6	0.85x	3.4 to 9.2	2020-2024
Stomach	New cases	4.8	6.6	0.73x	2.7 to 8.1	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	17	23.8	0.71x	12.4 to 23.1	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 Fayette County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	15,972.8	9,842.6	+62%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	69.8	75.3	-7%	years
Child mortality	59.3	59.8	-1%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	7.9	6.2	+28%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	166.7	96.9	+72%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	99.6	28.6	+248%	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.

Formaldehyde15.56 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.83 per million
Acetaldehyde1.56 per million
Benzene0.94 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit215
Rail grade crossing126
Brownfield property107
Gas station (mapped facility)19
Air permit holder (minor source)12
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)4
Public airport3
Major air pollution source2
Large hazardous waste generator2
Small hazardous waste generator2
Hazardous waste transporter2
Hydroelectric plant2
Airfield1
Correctional facility (prison or jail)1
Large greenhouse gas emitter1
Heliport1
Superfund (NPL) site1
TRI reporting facility1
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)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.

Shaffer Equipment/Arbuckle Creek Area, Minden
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 50.5. NPL Site.
EPA site ID WVD988768909 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Wva Manufacturing Llc, Alloy
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Hydrochloric acid (acid aerosols including mists, vapors, gas, fog, and other airborne forms of any particle size), Sulfuric acid (acid aerosols including mists, vapors, gas, fog, and other airborne forms of any particle size), Phenanthrene, Naphthalene and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 2,464,641 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 25002LKMMTBOX61 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 9.4
Elkem Metals, Alloy
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $105,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000585849 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 8.9
Wva Manufacturing, Llc, Alloy, Alloy
Major air pollution source. Penalties $10,800.
EPA FRS registry ID 110059396167 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.5
Kanawha Falls Psd, Deepwater
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110002321425 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Elkem Metals, Alloy
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $105,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000585849 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Oak Hill, City Of, Oak Hill
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010866946 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Open Fork Surface Mine No. 3, Wriston
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $51,400.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069995636 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Page-Kincaid Psd, Kincaid
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $5,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010860201 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5
City Of Smithers, Smithers
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010867035 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Glenco Hollow Surface Mine, Kincaid
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069564929 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Open Fork Surface Mine, Kincaid
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069604431 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Bowyer Mine Supply Inc, Layland
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007871393 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Mossy T&C, Scarbro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007888919 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Kingston Plant And Mine Complex, Scarbro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010852023 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Town Of Meadow Bridge, Meadow Bridge
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010860602 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Colby'S Salvage, Fayetteville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010875311 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
City Of Montgomery, Montgomery
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015656761 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Auto Recycling, Lochgelly
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110016691720 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Mountaineer Manufacturing, Inc., Smithers
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110031112221 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Downey Ridge Environmental Co, Ansted
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110055371501 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Jarrett Branch Landfill, Alloy
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110060372635 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
City Of Mount Hope Ms4, Mount Hope
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067581450 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Sycamore Surface, Chilton Surface, Sycamore North Surface, Sycamore South Ext, H, Powellton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069557704 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Bridge Fork Surface Mine, Bickmore
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069560754 (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.

West Virginia Correctional Industries, Mt Olive
EPA FRS registry ID
110070649704
Wastewater permit
None on record
EPA detailed facility report

Discovery / public records

Records to request for Fayette 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 Fayette 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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