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Estill County, Kentucky: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Estill County is 210.6 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. Federal databases place 106 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Industrial wastewater discharge (34), Rail grade crossing (28), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (28). 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: 37.698, -83.931.

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 Estill County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	New cases	112	51.8	2.16xSignificant	92.3 to 135.2	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	61.6	30.2	2.04xSignificant	47.5 to 79.3	2020-2024
Thyroid	New cases	23.5	13	1.81x	13 to 39	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	29.5	17.9	1.65xSignificant	19.1 to 44	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	17.6	11.3	1.56x	10.2 to 29.1	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	210.6	143.2	1.47xSignificant	182 to 243	2020-2024
Bladder	New cases	26.3	18.7	1.41x	16.8 to 39.7	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	604.5	453.4	1.33xSignificant	553.9 to 658.8	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	22.5	18.5	1.22x	13.5 to 35.7	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	23.8	23.8	1x	14.2 to 37.7	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 Estill County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	16,583.5	9,842.6	+68%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	69.5	75.3	-8%	years
Child mortality	n/a	59.8	n/a	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	172.9	96.9	+78%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	123.1	28.6	+330%	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.

Formaldehyde18.54 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.91 per million
Acetaldehyde1.98 per million
Benzene0.9 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Industrial wastewater discharge34
Rail grade crossing28
NPDES wastewater discharge permit28
Gas station (mapped facility)6
Brownfield property3
Public airport2
Major air pollution source1
Large greenhouse gas emitter1
Small hazardous waste generator1
Landfill (mapped facility)1
Biomass power plant1

Highest-severity records

The 25 records with the highest Envyrofax severity in the county, with the agency identifier to cite in a records request.

Advanced Disposal Services - Blue Ridge Landfill, Irvine
Major air pollution source. Penalties $3,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110013945222 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.8
Advanced Disposal Services - Blue Ridge Landfill, Irvine
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $3,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110013945222 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.3
Irvine Stp, Irvine
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $2,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006749162 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Advanced Disposal Services - Blue Ridge Landfill, Irvine
Large greenhouse gas emitter. Penalties $3,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110013945222 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.8
Cow Crk Wwtp, Ravenna
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $4,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070265897 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Kentucky Steam Heritage Corporation, Ravenna
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070793891 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Mack Theatre, Irvine
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071970744 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Kentucky Steam Heritage Corporation Parcel 2, Irvine
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072114788 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Hinkle Contracting Co Llc - Ravenna Asphalt Plant, Ravenna
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007062481 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Irvine Stp, Irvine
Industrial wastewater discharge. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KY0025909: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 3
Blue Ridge Generating, Irvine
Biomass power plant.
Record ID 59392 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 2.5
Irvine Congregation Of Jehovahs Witnesses, Irvine
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072083062 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Nally & Hamilton Enterprises Inc (848-0242), Holmes Mill
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043278306 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Estill County Landfill, Irvine
Landfill (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/844894270 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Fauste Oil Sevices Inc, Pryse
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009935026 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Concrete Materials Corp, Ravenna
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110020737559 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Estill County State Maintenance Garage, Ravenna
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110055093848 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Cow Crk Wwtp, Ravenna
Industrial wastewater discharge. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KY0112399: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 1.6
Camp Burnamwood, Irvine
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006750328 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Irvine Municipal Utilities, Irvine
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009960042 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Hardy Oil Co Irvine Bulk Fac, Irvine
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110027252728 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Marcums Auto Sales, Irvine
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043278351 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Dollar General Store #14672, Irvine
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110059772937 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Bowie Refined Coal Llc (833-9006), Irvine
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064511826 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Estill County Atc, Irvine
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070693158 (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 Estill 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 Estill 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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