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Kauai County, Hawaii: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Kauai County is 119.6 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. Federal databases place 790 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Industrial wastewater discharge (462), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (211), Wastewater plant (mapped facility) (36). EPA AirToxScreen estimates a lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics of 10 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: 22.0493, -159.5588.

How this county ranks in Hawaii

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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 Kauai County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	45.7	23.8	1.92xSignificant	39.7 to 52.4	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	5.3	4.8	1.1x	3.5 to 7.9	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	Deaths	3.5	3.4	1.03x	2.1 to 5.7	2020-2024
Pancreas	Deaths	11.4	11.3	1.01x	8.8 to 14.8	2020-2024
Brain & nervous system	Deaths	4.3	4.4	0.98x	2.5 to 6.9	2020-2024
Brain & nervous system	New cases	6	6.2	0.97x	3.9 to 9	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	12.9	13.9	0.93x	10 to 16.5	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	11.4	13	0.88x	8.2 to 15.5	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	397.3	453.4	0.88x	379.7 to 415.6	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	119.6	143.2	0.84x	110.5 to 129.3	2020-2024
Stomach	New cases	5.5	6.6	0.83x	3.6 to 8.1	2019-2023
Esophagus	New cases	3.8	4.6	0.83x	2.3 to 6.1	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	5.3	6.6	0.8x	3.6 to 7.7	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	New cases	6.2	8.7	0.71x	4.3 to 8.8	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	21.5	30.2	0.71x	17.9 to 25.7	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	12.5	17.9	0.7x	9.6 to 16.1	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	35.7	51.8	0.69x	30.9 to 41.2	2019-2023
Leukemia	Deaths	3.7	5.7	0.65x	2.3 to 5.7	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	11.9	18.5	0.64x	9.1 to 15.4	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	11.7	18.7	0.63x	9.1 to 14.9	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	8.3	14.5	0.57x	5.9 to 11.5	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 Kauai County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	5,801	9,842.6	-41%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	82.4	75.3	+9%	years
Child mortality	32.3	59.8	-46%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	5	6.2	-19%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	69.6	96.9	-28%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	23.3	28.6	-19%	deaths per 100,000

Air toxics and air quality

EPA AirToxScreen 2020

Lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics: 10 in a million. EPA treats 100 in a million as the upper end of acceptable risk and 1 in a million as the goal.

Formaldehyde8.2 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.85 per million
Benzene0.88 per million
Acetaldehyde0.4 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Industrial wastewater discharge462
NPDES wastewater discharge permit211
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)36
Gas station (mapped facility)20
Small hazardous waste generator8
Hazardous waste transporter7
Solar power plant7
Major air pollution source5
Air permit holder (minor source)5
Brownfield property5
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)4
Commercial airport3
Hydroelectric plant3
TRI reporting facility3
Public airport2
Large greenhouse gas emitter2
EPA air quality monitor1
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)1
Large hazardous waste generator1
Biomass power plant1
Other power plant1
Oil-fired power plant1
Scrapyard (mapped facility)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.

Port Allen Generating Station, Eleele
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia, Sulfuric acid (acid aerosols including mists, vapors, gas, fog, and other airborne forms of any particle size), Dioxin and dioxin-like compounds. Reports carcinogens. 6,202 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 96705KLCTR4392W (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.4
Kapaia Power Station, Lihue
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia. 71,000 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 96766KPWRP4941K (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.7
Us Doe Sandia National Laboratories Kauai Test Facility - Sa, Kekaha
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead. Reports carcinogens. 182 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 9679WSNDNTKAUAI (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.2
Kapaia Power Station, Lihue
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015679050 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.9
Island Energy Services Port Allen Terminal, Eleele
Major air pollution source. Penalties $83,920.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043089911 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.8
Kauai Island Utility Coop, Eleele
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064110652 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.6
Kapaa Refuse Transfer Station Bmp Improvements, Kapaa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $84,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110013778876 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Island Energy Services Port Allen Terminal, Eleele
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $83,920.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043089911 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Citizens Utilities Co, Lihue
Major air pollution source. Penalties $15,300.
EPA FRS registry ID 110018854765 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5
Mcpherson Residence, Unknown
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $2,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071510649 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5
Lihue, Lihue
Commercial airport. O.
Record ID LIH (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 5
Kauai Electric, Eleele
Major air pollution source. Penalties $1,200.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064387462 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Polynesian Adventure Tours, Llc - Kauai Station, Unknown
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $1,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071295094 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Hanapepe Base Yard, Hanapepe
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110013779688 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Citizens Utilities Co, Lihue
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $15,300.
EPA FRS registry ID 110018854765 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Kauai County Hanalei Transfer Station, Hanalei
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110027177560 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Kalihiwai Ponds (2), Kilauea
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110028077033 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Kauai Resource Center And Lihue Transfer Station, Lihue
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110037943205 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Kauai Philippine Cultural Center (Kpcc) Facility, Phase I, Lihue
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067365194 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Par Hawaii Llc Nawiliwili Terminal, Lihue
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067655503 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Us Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kekaha
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead. Reports carcinogens.
TRI facility ID 96752SNVYPKAUMU (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.5
Port Allen (Hi), Eleele
Oil-fired power plant.
Record ID 6474 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 4.1
Us Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kekaha
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110041973479 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Wailua Wastewater Treatment Plant, Kapaa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010731262 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Island Energy Services Port Allen Terminal, Eleele
Small hazardous waste generator. Penalties $83,920.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043089911 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8

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 Kauai County

Hawaii 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 Kauai County, and their findings.
Hawaii vital statistics office
Death certificate counts by cause of death and residence tract or ZIP code, and the years behind the mortality measures above.
Hawaii health department, environmental epidemiology
Health consultations or assessments by ATSDR or the state health department covering the county, and any exposure investigations.
Hawaii 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.
Hawaii 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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