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Breckinridge County, Kentucky: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Breckinridge County is 178.2 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 2.1 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 130 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Industrial wastewater discharge (41), Rail grade crossing (41), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (30). 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: 37.8053, -86.4168.

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 Breckinridge County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	63.8	30.2	2.11xSignificant	51.9 to 78.1	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	91.9	51.8	1.77xSignificant	77.7 to 108.4	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	27.8	17.9	1.55xSignificant	18.9 to 39.5	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	25	18.7	1.34x	17.2 to 35.5	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	19	14.5	1.31x	12 to 28.7	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	178.2	143.2	1.24xSignificant	157.1 to 201.5	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	28.8	23.8	1.21x	20 to 40.3	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	22	18.5	1.19x	14.7 to 32	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	505.8	453.4	1.12xSignificant	468.3 to 545.8	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	10.7	13.9	0.77x	6 to 18	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 Breckinridge County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	12,214.6	9,842.6	+24%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	72.4	75.3	-4%	years
Child mortality	54.3	59.8	-9%	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	107.8	96.9	+11%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	27.4	28.6	-4%	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.

Formaldehyde20.45 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.94 per million
Acetaldehyde2.21 per million
Ethylene Oxide0.86 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Industrial wastewater discharge41
Rail grade crossing41
NPDES wastewater discharge permit30
Gas station (mapped facility)8
Public airport2
Brownfield property2
Heliport2
Major air pollution source1
Air permit holder (minor source)1
Small hazardous waste generator1
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.

Irvington Stp, Irvington
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $2,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009935534 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Cloverport Stp, Cloverport
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009938844 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Texas Gas Trans Llc, Hardinsburg
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110041966708 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Farmers Recycling, Cloverport
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071975326 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Old Hardinsburg Water Treatment Plant, Mc Daniels
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071978442 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Texas Gas Trans Llc, Hardinsburg
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110041966708 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Breckinridge Co State Maintenance Garage, Harned
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071545991 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Hardinsburg Stp, Hardinsburg
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KY0028363: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 3
Breckinridge Co State Maintenance Garage, Harned
Industrial wastewater discharge. Significant/Category I Noncompliance.
NPDES permit KYR004623: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 3
Ktc Breckinridge County Maintenance Garage, Harned
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $45,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009744072 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Cloverport Stp, Cloverport
Industrial wastewater discharge. Significant/Category I Noncompliance.
NPDES permit KY0026701: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.7
Mastersons Auto Parts And Salvage, Irvington
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110056347145 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Liter'S Inc., Irvington
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KYG840012: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.2
White Stone Co, Hardinsburg
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KYG840264: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.2
Breckinridge County, Hardinsburg
Public airport. O.
Record ID I93 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Uscoe - Rough River Lake Axtel Site, Hardinsburg
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006889796 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Breck County Ready Mix Co, Hardinsburg
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110013846071 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Hardinsburg Stp, Hardinsburg
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064274814 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Liter'S Inc., Irvington
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001375495 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
White Stone Co, Hardinsburg
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015661167 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Hardinsburg, City Of, Hardinsburg
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110022286658 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Texas Gas Trans Llc, Hardinsburg
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110041966708 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Mago Construction Co Llc - Irvington Hma Plant, Irvington
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110056349679 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Dunaway Timber Co [Garfield Mill], Garfield
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110058920529 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Southern States Breck Agronomy Plant, Hardinsburg
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067585964 (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 Breckinridge 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 Breckinridge 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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