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Lawrence County, Indiana: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Lawrence County is 190.8 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 1.8 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 327 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Industrial wastewater discharge (112), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (75), Rail grade crossing (56). One correctional facility operates in the county. 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: 38.8246, -86.4798.

How this county ranks in Indiana

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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 Lawrence County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	54.1	30.2	1.79xSignificant	46.5 to 62.8	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	27.8	17.9	1.55xSignificant	21.8 to 35	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	74.9	51.8	1.45xSignificant	65.9 to 85	2019-2023
Esophagus	Deaths	5.1	3.7	1.38x	2.9 to 8.5	2020-2024
Leukemia	Deaths	7.8	5.7	1.37x	5 to 11.8	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	190.8	143.2	1.33xSignificant	176 to 206.7	2020-2024
Brain & nervous system	Deaths	5.8	4.4	1.32x	3.6 to 9.3	2020-2024
Pancreas	Deaths	14.6	11.3	1.29x	10.8 to 19.5	2020-2024
Brain & nervous system	New cases	7.9	6.2	1.27x	4.9 to 12.1	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	23.5	18.5	1.27x	18.3 to 29.7	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	17.3	14.5	1.19x	12.7 to 23.1	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	15.7	13.9	1.13x	11.8 to 20.8	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	7.4	6.6	1.12x	4.8 to 11.1	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	5.2	4.8	1.08x	3 to 8.6	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	478	453.4	1.05xSignificant	453.6 to 503.5	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	19.7	18.7	1.05x	15.3 to 25.2	2019-2023
Stomach	New cases	5.9	6.6	0.89x	3.5 to 9.5	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	20.7	23.8	0.87x	15.8 to 26.8	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	8.9	13	0.68x	5.4 to 14	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	New cases	5.8	8.7	0.67x	3.6 to 9.1	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 Lawrence County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	10,599.8	9,842.6	+8%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	73.8	75.3	-2%	years
Child mortality	56.8	59.8	-5%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	6.5	6.2	+4%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	91.3	96.9	-6%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	33.9	28.6	+18%	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.

Formaldehyde19.42 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.94 per million
Acetaldehyde1.94 per million
Benzene0.97 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Industrial wastewater discharge112
NPDES wastewater discharge permit75
Rail grade crossing56
Gas station (mapped facility)30
Brownfield property11
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)8
Major air pollution source5
Small hazardous waste generator5
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)5
Air permit holder (minor source)4
TRI reporting facility4
Large greenhouse gas emitter3
Hazardous waste transporter2
Commercial airport1
Correctional facility (prison or jail)1
Large hazardous waste generator1
Heliport1
Gas power plant1
Solar power plant1
Wastewater plant (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.

Lehigh Cement Co Llc, Mitchell
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $260,848.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043798744 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 10
Heidelberg Materials Us Cement Llc, Mitchell
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Hydrogen cyanide, Formaldehyde, Acetaldehyde, Aluminum (fume or dust) and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 400,354 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 47446LHGHP121NO (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.8
Lehigh Cement Co Llc, Mitchell
Major air pollution source. Penalties $260,848.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043798744 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.5
Lehigh Cement Co Llc, Mitchell
Large greenhouse gas emitter. Penalties $260,848.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043798744 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.5
General Motors Llc Bedford Cetc, Bedford
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $71,400.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000403215 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.4
General Motors Llc-Bedford Gps, Bedford
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Copper, Lead, Nickel, Chromium. Reports carcinogens. 21 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 47421GMCCNNORTH (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.5
General Motors Llc Bedford Cetc, Bedford
Major air pollution source. Penalties $71,400.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000403215 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
General Motors Llc Bedford Cetc, Bedford
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $71,400.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000403215 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5
Cap Group Llc, Bedford
Major air pollution source. Penalties $9,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071655051 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
General Motors Llc Bedford Cetc, Bedford
Large greenhouse gas emitter. Penalties $71,400.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000403215 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Indiana Steel & Engineering Corp., Bedford
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead. Reports carcinogens.
TRI facility ID 47421NDNST957JS (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.5
Cap Group Llc, Bedford
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $9,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071655051 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Manchester Tank & Equipment Co, Bedford
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Manganese And Manganese Compounds. 35 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 47421BRNNR80090 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.2
Indiana Steel & Engineering Corp., Bedford
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000403233 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Geo-Flo Corporation, Bedford
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071956455 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
General Motors Llc Bedford Cetc, Bedford
Small hazardous waste generator. Penalties $71,400.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000403215 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Oolitic Wwtp, Oolitic
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009974965 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Hoosier Energy Rec Inc - Lawrence Generating Station, Mitchell
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038000365 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Texas Gas Transmission, Llc - Leesville, Bedford
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110041191448 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Lehigh Cement Company Llc, Mitchell
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072214608 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Lawrence County Station, Mitchell
Gas power plant.
Record ID 7948 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 3.3
Bedford Wastewater Treatment Plant, Bedford
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006645461 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Briarwood Subdivision, Springville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006811762 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
231 Hoosier Avenue, Oolitic
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071972442 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Bedford Train Depot, Bedford
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071974745 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3

Correctional facilities

Prisons, jails and corrections operations with an EPA facility record, and the drinking water and wastewater compliance attached to them.

In Dot Slide Correction Project Des. 1900296, Heltonville
EPA FRS registry ID
110071437342
Wastewater permit
Yes
EPA detailed facility report

Discovery / public records

Records to request for Lawrence County

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