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Hopkins County, Kentucky: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Hopkins County is 171.3 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Kidney & renal pelvis deaths at 1.8 times the U.S. rate and Lung & bronchus deaths at 1.7 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 347 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (111), Industrial wastewater discharge (104), Rail grade crossing (71). 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: 37.3379, -87.585.

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 Hopkins County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Kidney & renal pelvis	Deaths	6.2	3.4	1.82xSignificant	3.7 to 10	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	52	30.2	1.72xSignificant	44.4 to 60.7	2020-2024
Bladder	Deaths	6.6	4.1	1.61x	4.1 to 10.4	2020-2024
Leukemia	Deaths	9.1	5.7	1.6xSignificant	5.8 to 13.6	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	80.7	51.8	1.56xSignificant	71 to 91.4	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	19.6	14.5	1.35xSignificant	14.7 to 25.7	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	22.2	17.9	1.24x	17 to 28.7	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	171.3	143.2	1.2xSignificant	156.8 to 187	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	21.8	18.5	1.18x	16.5 to 28.4	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	21.8	18.7	1.17x	16.8 to 27.9	2019-2023
Esophagus	New cases	5.1	4.6	1.11x	2.9 to 8.4	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	500.2	453.4	1.1xSignificant	474.4 to 527.2	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	11.4	11.3	1.01x	8 to 16	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	24	23.8	1.01x	18.4 to 30.8	2019-2023
Stomach	New cases	6.6	6.6	1x	3.9 to 10.5	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	13.7	13.9	0.99x	10 to 18.7	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	9	13	0.69x	5.3 to 14.1	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	New cases	5.2	8.7	0.6x	3.1 to 8.6	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 Hopkins County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	11,560.3	9,842.6	+17%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	72.3	75.3	-4%	years
Child mortality	56.1	59.8	-6%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	5.8	6.2	-6%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	87.8	96.9	-9%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	17.1	28.6	-40%	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.

Formaldehyde22.42 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.95 per million
Acetaldehyde2.27 per million
Benzene0.89 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit111
Industrial wastewater discharge104
Rail grade crossing71
Gas station (mapped facility)25
Small hazardous waste generator10
Major air pollution source6
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)4
Large greenhouse gas emitter3
TRI reporting facility3
Air permit holder (minor source)2
Public airport2
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)2
Large hazardous waste generator1
Heliport1
Landfill (mapped facility)1
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.

Ahlstrom Filtration Llc, Madisonville
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Methanol, Phenol, Formaldehyde. Reports carcinogens. 2,729,990 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 42431FLTRTHIGHW (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 9.4
Jlok Corp, Earlington
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Styrene. Reports carcinogens. 37,434 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 4241WJLKCR88SAN (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8
Ahlstrom Filtration Llc, Madisonville
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000381051 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.6
Ge Aerospace, Madisonville
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Chromium, Nickel, Nitric acid, Copper. Reports carcinogens. 1,415 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 42431GRCRFUSHWY (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.9
J-Lok, West Kentucky Facility, Earlington
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110037391747 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Madisonville Stp West Side, Madisonville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $11,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110002041380 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
General Electric Co - Aircraft Engine Group, Madisonville
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110013872648 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.6
Ahlstrom Filtration Llc, Madisonville
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000381051 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
South Hopkins Regional Wwtp, Nortonville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $4,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110020738175 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Ahlstrom Filtration Llc, Madisonville
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000381051 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Ahlstrom Filtration Llc, Madisonville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000381051 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Max Arnold & Sons Llc, Madisonville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006749028 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Tri-Arrows Metal Exchange Corporation, Madisonville
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110057505864 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Ruby Concrete, Madisonville
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001242879 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Anr Pipeline Co (Madisonville Compressor Sta), Madisonville
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110003227936 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Dawson Springs Stp, Dawson Springs
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006752246 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Hopkins Co Regional Landfill, White Plains
Large greenhouse gas emitter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009934517 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Bituminous Resources Inc - Hopkins Co Regional Landfill, White Plains
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110037597375 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Hillside Lumber Co, Mortons Gap
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071074875 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Kentucky Municipal Energy Agency (Kymea) Energy Center I, Madisonville
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071910630 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Dawson Springs Water & Sewer-Dawson Springs Wtp, Dawson Springs
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009959535 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Tri-Arrows Metal Exchange Corporation, Madisonville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110057505864 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Hopkins Co State Maintenance Garage, Madisonville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071546430 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Tungco Inc, Madisonville
Small hazardous waste generator. Penalties $20,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072043095 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Electro Cycle Inc., Madisonville
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead And Lead Compounds, Lead compounds.
TRI facility ID 4243WLCTRC23BAL (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 3.1

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 Hopkins 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 Hopkins 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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