Contaminant 0700
Unresolved Drinking water rule (140) violation cited in 2021 (contaminant 0700).
City · TRI 2024
Welch, West Virginia Pollution
0 TRI facilities inside the city limits and 17 public water systems serving residents.
FIPS 5485228 · population 3,475 · McDowell County
Anomaly engine
Notable Signals
Contaminant 0700
Unresolved Drinking water rule (140) violation cited in 2021 (contaminant 0700).
Contaminant 5000
Unresolved Phase I/II/V Inorganic Chemical Rules violation cited in 2023 (contaminant 5000).
Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM)
Unresolved Total Trihalomethanes Rule violation cited in 2022 (total trihalomethanes (tthm)).
Showing the 4 most editorially weighted signals out of 32. Lower-severity signals fold into the chemical breakdown and history charts below.
Pollutant pathways
Welch Pollutant Multi-Year Trends
Lifetime cancer risk all pollutants (100 in a million (EPA elevated threshold))Health riskEPA-modeled added cancer cases per million residents from a lifetime of breathing local air toxics. EPA flags 100-in-a-million as elevated.
Single-vintage exposure modeling — EPA cadence is multi-year, so no trend line yet.
Formaldehyde ambient mean (0.077 µg/m³ (1-in-a-million URE))Health riskAn air toxic emitted by refineries, wood products, and combustion. EPA classifies it as a known human carcinogen — long-term inhalation raises cancer risk.
Single-vintage exposure modeling — EPA cadence is multi-year, so no trend line yet.
Benzene ambient mean (0.13 µg/m³ (1-in-a-million URE))Health riskAn air toxic from gasoline, refineries, and tobacco smoke. A known human carcinogen — chronic exposure is linked to leukemia and other blood cancers.
Single-vintage exposure modeling — EPA cadence is multi-year, so no trend line yet.
TRI air releases (5.1 fugitive + 5.2 stack)Health riskToxic chemicals reported by industrial facilities as released into the air — fugitive leaks plus smokestack emissions. Higher pounds means more inhaled exposure for nearby residents.
Single-vintage exposure modeling — EPA cadence is multi-year, so no trend line yet.
TRI water releases (5.3)Health riskToxic chemicals reported by industrial facilities as discharged to surface waters (rivers, lakes, the ocean). Affects fishing, recreation, and downstream drinking-water intakes.
Single-vintage exposure modeling — EPA cadence is multi-year, so no trend line yet.
TRI land + off-site releasesHealth riskToxic chemicals released to land on-site or transferred off-site for disposal — landfills, deep-well injection, and similar. Risks groundwater contamination over time.
Single-vintage exposure modeling — EPA cadence is multi-year, so no trend line yet.
Greenhouse gases (GHGRP large emitters, through 2014)Health riskGreenhouse gases reported by large industrial emitters under EPA's GHGRP, in metric tons of CO₂ equivalent. Drives climate warming and the heat-related health effects that follow.
Greenhouse gases (GHGRP large emitters, through 2014) concentrations are up 43% since 2010.
Drinking water · SDWIS
Water Systems Serving Welch
364 unresolved violations on the SDWIS record across utilities serving this city.
17
Utilities serving
11,446
Population served
59
Health-based · 5yr
364
Unresolved
| Water system | PWSID | Population served | Health-based · 5yr | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mcdowell County Psd Premier Private | WV3302411 | 122 | 15 | UNRESOLVED |
| Mcdowell County Psd Maybeury Private | WV3302460 | 1,648 | 8 | UNRESOLVED |
| Welch City Of Municipal | WV3302421 | 2,907 | 7 | UNRESOLVED |
| Mcdowell County Psd Greenbrier Municipal | WV3302465 | 165 | 7 | UNRESOLVED |
| Mcdowell County Psd Bartley Municipal | WV3302434 | 2,242 | 6 | UNRESOLVED |
| Mcdowell County Psd Coalwood Private | WV3302439 | 1,537 | 4 | UNRESOLVED |
| Mcdowell County Psd-Big Four Municipal | WV3302471 | 363 | 4 | UNRESOLVED |
| Mcdowell County Psd Berwind Municipal | WV3302435 | 692 | 2 | UNRESOLVED |
| Mcdowell County Psd Eckman Private | WV3302405 | 118 | 2 | UNRESOLVED |
| Mcdowell County Psd Kimball Private | WV3302431 | 432 | 1 | UNRESOLVED |
| Mcdowell County Psd Bradshaw Private | WV3302437 | 163 | 1 | UNRESOLVED |
| Ashland Community Private | WV3302417 | 32 | 1 | UNRESOLVED |
| Mcdowell County Psd Bishop Private | WV3302475 | 50 | 1 | Returned to compliance |
| Mcdowell County Psd Havaco Private | WV3302440 | 370 | 0 | UNRESOLVED |
| Mcdowell County Psd Hemphill Private | WV3302441 | 322 | 0 | UNRESOLVED |
| Crumpler Community Water Municipal | WV3302448 | 170 | 0 | UNRESOLVED |
| Mcdowell County Psd Tidewater Private | WV3302407 | 113 | 0 | UNRESOLVED |
A public water systemis the regulated entity, not the city. EPA's SDWIS definition covers anything serving 25+ people for 60+ days a year or with 15+ service connections — that includes municipal utilities (City of Stockton), water districts, mobile home parks operating their own wells, schools, and small private subdivisions. Each system is independently monitored. Some systems serve multiple cities; some cities are served by many systems.
Equity context · ACS 2018-2022 · USEPA-clone EJ disparity
Who Lives In Welch
Welch, West Virginia (Census place block groups): 3,475 residents. Why we surface this →
28.9%
Low-income
33.6%
People of color
5.5%
Under age 5
14.0%
Over age 64
Source: Census ACS 2018-2022 (5-year) + USEPA-clone EJ blockgroup stats (raw indicators + EJ disparity mirror).
Health context
Co-Located Health Indicators
Modeled adult-prevalence estimates published by CDC PLACES, paired with this city's pollution and demographic context. Comparisons are ecological, not causal — pollution and disease prevalence covary at the area level, but the data does not attribute any individual's diagnosis to local exposure. How this section works →
Adult asthma (current)
11.6%
CDC PLACES · 2025 release · BRFSS 2022-2023
COPD prevalence
11.0%
CDC PLACES · 2025 release · BRFSS 2022-2023
Coronary heart disease
7.6%
CDC PLACES · 2025 release · BRFSS 2022-2023
Diabetes (diagnosed)
17.2%
CDC PLACES · 2025 release · BRFSS 2022-2023
Frequent mental distress
23.5%
CDC PLACES · 2025 release · BRFSS 2022-2023
PLACES uses BRFSS-modeled small-area estimates, not individual records. Crude prevalence shown above is the local rate as published; comparators are age-adjusted vs the West Virginia mean and the US mean — both population-weighted across counties — so geographies with different age structures stay apples-to-apples. Sources: CDC PLACES · 2025 release · BRFSS 2022-2023.
Sources.
- EPA Toxics Release Inventory · retrieved 2026-05-07.
- EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System · retrieved 2026-05-07.