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Adair County, Kentucky: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Adair County is 211.4 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 2 times the U.S. rate and Pancreas deaths at 1.7 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 80 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Industrial wastewater discharge (33), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (30), Gas station (mapped facility) (8). 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: 37.12, -85.2978.

How this county ranks in Kentucky

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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 Adair County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	New cases	109.5	51.8	2.11xSignificant	92.1 to 129.5	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	61.2	30.2	2.03xSignificant	48.7 to 76.3	2020-2024
Pancreas	Deaths	19.3	11.3	1.71xSignificant	12.3 to 29.2	2020-2024
Bladder	New cases	31.4	18.7	1.68xSignificant	22.2 to 43.6	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	20.8	13.9	1.5x	13.5 to 31.1	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	211.4	143.2	1.48xSignificant	186.7 to 238.7	2020-2024
Thyroid	New cases	17.4	13	1.34x	10.3 to 27.5	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	561.6	453.4	1.24xSignificant	519.8 to 606.2	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	29.1	23.8	1.22x	19.8 to 41.4	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	20.3	18.5	1.1x	12.4 to 31.4	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	18.1	17.9	1.01x	11.4 to 27.6	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	14	14.5	0.97x	8.1 to 23	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 Adair County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	13,988.8	9,842.6	+42%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	71.7	75.3	-5%	years
Child mortality	70.6	59.8	+18%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	n/a	6.2	n/a	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	108.4	96.9	+12%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	38.2	28.6	+34%	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.

Formaldehyde18.92 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.91 per million
Acetaldehyde2.15 per million
Benzene0.84 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Industrial wastewater discharge33
NPDES wastewater discharge permit30
Gas station (mapped facility)8
Air permit holder (minor source)2
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)2
Public airport1
Brownfield property1
Small hazardous waste generator1
Heliport1
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.

Columbia/Adair County Stp, Columbia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009696356 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Northeastern Products, Columbia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040970615 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Former Adair Co. Courthouse, Columbia
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071979158 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Burton Stone Inc, Columbia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001244671 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Imo Industries, Inc., Columbia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006755519 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Ktc Adair County Maintenance Garage, Columbia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006759392 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
J Downey & Sons Lumber Inc, Columbia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110057197475 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
J&S Auto Sales, Columbia
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KYR004519: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.3
Imo Industries, Inc., Columbia
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110006755519 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Pyles Excavating Office Building, Columbia
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KYR004440: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.2
Columbia-Adair County, Columbia
Public airport. O.
Record ID I96 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Mid-State Ready Mix, Columbia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064513101 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Gaddie Shamrock Llc - Columbia Asphalt Plant #2, Columbia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110002355781 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Circor Pumps North America, Columbia
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110003225625 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Southern Petroleum - Columbia Bulk Plant, Columbia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008057440 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Gaddie Shamrock Llc, Columbia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010425584 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Imi Kentucky Llc - Columbia Plant 811, Columbia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110013876270 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Adair Co Transfer Station, Columbia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110029528063 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Adair County High School, Columbia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110060268124 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Pyles Excavating Office Building, Columbia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070839426 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
First & Farmers National Bank, Columbia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070876779 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Dollar General, Breeding
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071075048 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Green River Commerce Park, Columbia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071298398 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
J&S Auto Sales, Columbia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071309610 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Rogers Trucking Office Complex, Columbia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071376955 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5

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 Adair County

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