Knox, TN
A PlainEnviro-computed score from reported facility/violation counts, not an official EPA rating, health forecast, or population-adjusted rate. See methodology. This is a different measure than the EJ Screening score for this county, which ranks it by percentile against every other tracked county rather than against fixed national thresholds.
Environmental data for Knox in Tennessee · Population: 487,401
Knox, TN is tracked across three EPA datasets covering 24 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) facilities, 3 Safe Drinking Water Act systems, and 0 Superfund National Priorities List sites. Together these generate an environmental burden score of 47/100 (Moderate Risk), calibrated against national distributions for facility density, chemical release volume, Superfund concentration, and water-system health violations.
Industrial disclosures inside the county total 9.5M lbs of reported toxic releases under EPCRA Section 313, while 1 water system carries an active health-based violation in the SDWIS record. EPA Air Quality System monitors logged a median AQI of 48 and a peak AQI of 105 in 2024, with 56% of observed days rated "Good" (0–50).
All figures below draw directly from federal EPA records, TRI self-reported emissions, SDWIS compliance history, NPL Hazard Ranking System scores, and AQS daily AQI summaries, and are not adjusted, weighted, or forecast. A past violation or elevated score does not itself indicate current unsafe conditions; it documents the regulatory and disclosure history publicly filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through the most recent reporting cycle.
Air Quality History (2020–2024)
EPA Air Quality Index (AQI) data showing how many days per year fall into each air quality category.
| Year | Good | Moderate | Unhealthy (SG) | Max AQI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 205 (56%) | 160 | 1 | 105 |
| 2023 | 162 (44%) | 199 | 4 | 149 |
| 2022 | 185 (51%) | 180 | 0 | 77 |
| 2021 | 153 (42%) | 207 | 5 | 150 |
| 2020 | 233 (64%) | 133 | 0 | 91 |
Source: EPA Air Quality System (AQS) Annual AQI by County EPA Air Quality System (AQS) Annual AQI by County AQI categories: Good (0-50), Moderate (51-100), Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (101-150), Unhealthy (151-200), Very Unhealthy (201-300), Hazardous (301+)
For real-time air quality readings and pollutant breakdowns in Tennessee, see the EPA's AirNow.gov.
Water Systems (3)
| System | Population | Violations |
|---|---|---|
| NORTHEAST KNOX U.D. | 27,941 | 0 |
| GREEN MEADOW ESTATES OF ROCKFORD LLC | 250 | 6 |
| COUNTRY ACRES FARM | 111 | 0 |
TRI Facilities (24)
| # | Facility | Total Releases |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nyrstar- Immel Mine | 5.8M lbs |
| 2 | Explore Industries USA Inc | 3.2M lbs |
| 3 | Rohm & Haas Chemicals LLC - Knoxville Site | 297.5K lbs |
| 4 | Cemex Construction Materials Atlantic LLC | 141.9K lbs |
| 5 | Cmc Steel Tennessee | 97.9K lbs |
| 6 | G & B Specialties Inc. D/b/a Unitrac Railroad Materials | 21.2K lbs |
| 7 | Darling Ingredients Knoxville Facility | 13.9K lbs |
| 8 | Mplx Terminals LLC - Knoxville Tn LP Terminal | 12.0K lbs |
| 9 | Corechem Inc. | 9.0K lbs |
| 10 | Schick Manufacturing Inc | 2.9K lbs |
| 11 | Exedy America Corp | 557 lbs |
| 12 | Bam Inc. | 517 lbs |
| 13 | Lambcon Ready Mix | 110 lbs |
| 14 | Marathon Petroleum Co - Knoxville Tn Asp Terminal | 37 lbs |
| 15 | Fulton Bellows LLC | 18 lbs |
| 16 | Woodstream Corp | 14 lbs |
| 17 | Safety-Kleen Systems Knoxville (kno) | 4 lbs |
| 18 | Ready Mix USA Llc-Neyland Drive Plant | 0 lbs |
| 19 | Kelvion Products Inc. - Knoxville | 0 lbs |
| 20 | Tru Halls | 0 lbs |
| 21 | Chevron Phillips Chemical Co Performance Pipe Div | 0 lbs |
| 22 | Hudson Materials Co | 0 lbs |
| 23 | Smyrna Ready Mix Concrete LLC Plant 47 | 0 lbs |
| 24 | Smyrna Ready Mix Plant 31 | 0 lbs |
Cities in Knox (3)
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the environmental risk level in Knox, Tennessee? ▼
Are there Superfund sites in Knox? ▼
How many toxic release facilities are in Knox? ▼
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What does this county environmental profile show?
This county environmental profile rolls up EPA Toxics Release Inventory facility reports, Safe Drinking Water Information System public-water-system filings, and Superfund National Priorities List sites for the county boundary defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. Facility counts reflect facilities with a reporting address inside the county, not where downstream environmental effects may be observed. Population figures are from the most recent Census ACS 5-year estimate. The county detail page is updated whenever the upstream EPA programs publish revised data; see the methodology page for the documented ingest cadence and the editorial choices governing how aggregations are computed.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.