By Treven Pyles on April 14th, 2026 in Ethylene Oxide
In New Tazewell, federal and state health agencies have already confirmed that communities near the DeRoyal Industries facility face elevated cancer risks from ethylene oxide exposure. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, some neighborhoods near the facility show lifetime cancer risks exceeding 100 in a million.
Areas closest to the plant may reach as high as 3,000 in a million under continuous exposure assumptions. Yet within these impacted zones, one group remains largely invisible in public discussions: residents of mobile home communities.
Mobile homes represent nearly 20% of housing in New Tazewell, which is a substantial part of the local population. These communities are not a niche housing type but a core part of the local housing system. They are often lower-income, long-term residential, and located near industrial corridors. These are the exact conditions that increase cumulative EtO exposure risk.
Mobile home communities likely within approximately four miles of the DeRoyal EtO facility include:
These communities represent exactly the type of neighborhoods most affected by environmental exposure. Yet in EPA meetings, regulatory filings, and media coverage, public comments tend to come from homeowners, advocacy groups, and local officials. Mobile home residents are underrepresented. This gap matters because these residents may face higher exposure intensity, often have fewer resources to relocate, and may lack access to legal or environmental advocacy channels.
The EPA makes clear that EtO cancer risk depends on three factors: distance from the facility, concentration of emissions, and length of exposure, often measured over decades. Mobile home communities often meet all three criteria. They are located close to industrial sites. Residents stay for long periods, often raising children through the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s in the same location. Exposure occurs 24 hours a day through ambient air.
This creates what public health experts consider continuous lifetime exposure scenarios. EtO risk is tied to long-term inhalation exposure, often modeled over 70 years. Mobile home communities often have stable, long-term populations and multi-generational residents, which increases lifetime cumulative exposure risk.
Children raised in these communities during the 1980s and 1990s faced exposure during developmental years when cells divide rapidly, and DNA damage can have particularly severe long-term consequences. These children are now adults in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, the age range when cancers with 20 to 30 year latency periods begin appearing.
Research shows mobile home residents are more likely to be low-income or fixed-income households. Many own the home but not the land beneath it. This creates a major barrier: moving is not simple. You cannot just sell and leave like a traditional homeowner. The financial burden of moving a manufactured home can exceed its value, which can force families to stay put even when they know about health risks.
The insulation and air sealing in manufactured homes are often less robust than in traditional construction, leaving them more open to outdoor air infiltration. This can mean more ambient pollution makes its way inside, potentially raising the level of EtO exposure for residents near emitting facilities.
Public meetings and regulatory processes typically depend on people being able to attend, comment in writing, and access information online. Those are not always realistic options for mobile home residents dealing with limited transportation, limited internet access, and inflexible work schedules. The result is a serious imbalance where the communities most affected by emissions may have the least say in the decisions made about them.
Federal agencies are increasingly examining which communities carry an outsized share of environmental risk. Mobile home parks regularly fit the profile of underserved populations facing higher cumulative exposure. Legally, when you layer proximity, duration, and vulnerability together, the causation argument gets stronger. Mobile home residents can often show higher exposure intensity and longer duration than more transient populations.
In 2024, the EPA finalized a rule mandating approximately 92% reduction in EtO emissions from sterilization facilities. In March 2026, the current administration moved to rescind that rule. Workers who handle EtO inside factories remain protected by occupational safety rules, but people living near these facilities could breathe in more EtO if the EPA loses its power to set and enforce strict pollution limits.
The EPA admitted in 2024 that the air near facilities in Tennessee, Virginia, Minnesota, and Utah was dangerous enough to require dramatic emission reductions. Now, they are attempting to roll back those protections. This particularly affects mobile home communities that cannot easily relocate, even as regulatory protections weaken.
Mobile home communities make up nearly one in five homes in New Tazewell, yet residents are rarely included in discussions about industrial emissions, even though they spend the most time close to these sources. ELG Law has represented toxic exposure victims for over 35 years. We understand that the families facing the highest exposure are often the ones with the least voice in regulatory processes.
If you lived in Giles Mobile Home Park, Highberry Trailer Park, Saddle Ridge, Norris Estates, Lynch MHP, or other communities near the DeRoyal facility and have been diagnosed with cancer, particularly non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, breast cancer, lung cancer, or leukemia, contact us for a free case evaluation. Your long-term residence in these communities may establish the exposure duration necessary to support an EtO claim for compensation.