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Ritchie County, West Virginia: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Ritchie County is 176.2 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Lung & bronchus deaths at 1.6 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 150 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (97), Air permit holder (minor source) (36), Gas station (mapped facility) (6). 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: 39.1968, -81.083.

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 Ritchie County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	New cases	94.8	51.8	1.83xSignificant	73.4 to 122	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	47.8	30.2	1.58xSignificant	33.3 to 68.3	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	22.9	17.9	1.28x	13 to 39.2	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	563.2	453.4	1.24xSignificant	503.6 to 628.7	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	176.2	143.2	1.23xSignificant	145.6 to 212.6	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	24.5	23.8	1.03x	13.5 to 42.4	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 Ritchie County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	12,149.5	9,842.6	+23%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	73.3	75.3	-3%	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	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: 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.

Formaldehyde18.83 per million
Benzene5.23 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.91 per million
Acetaldehyde1.82 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit97
Air permit holder (minor source)36
Gas station (mapped facility)6
Large greenhouse gas emitter3
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)3
Major air pollution source2
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)1
Small hazardous waste generator1
TRI reporting facility1

Highest-severity records

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

Zoetis Llc, Saint Marys
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000344789 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 8.6
White Oak Compressor Station, Pullman
Large greenhouse gas emitter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110054964188 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Town Of Ellenboro, Ellenboro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $5,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064328678 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5
Zoetis Llc, Saint Marys
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000344789 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Pit Pipe, Inc, Ellenboro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110063714262 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Champion Agate/Glass, Pennsboro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010851097 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
City Of Pennsboro, Pennsboro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010852096 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Ritchie Concrete, Inc., Pennsboro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010871716 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
North Bend State Park - Cokely Branch Rec Area, Cairo
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010877621 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Ritchie County Hq, Harrisville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110037938471 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
White Oak Compressor Station, Pullman
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110054964188 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Us Rt. 50 Storage Yard, Ellenboro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064575197 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Pennsboro Yard-Jwood, Pennsboro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070221699 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Harrisville Town Of, Harrisville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010866651 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Hall Drilling, Llc - Lamberton Road Yard, Ellenboro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070163259 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Eastern Gas Transmission And Storage, Inc., Craig Station, Smithville
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110002584061 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Cairo Town Of, Cairo
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010860121 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Antero Midstream Llc, Belford Compressor Station, Pullman
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID x278fee5306117137cf24565b5012ecf5 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Ellenboro Apd Substation, Ellenboro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110041949522 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Alfab Inc, Smithville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007882461 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Simonton Windows Harrisville, Harrisville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110033014431 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Jay-Bee Oil & Gas Inc, Cairo
Large greenhouse gas emitter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110059233707 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Antero Clearwater Facility, Pennsboro
Large greenhouse gas emitter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070081353 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Simonton Windows Pennsboro, Pennsboro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070281732 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Simonton Windows Ellenboro, Ellenboro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071064474 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5

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 Ritchie 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 Ritchie 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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