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Knox County, Kentucky: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Knox County is 240 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 2.8 times the U.S. rate and Lung & bronchus deaths at 2.4 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 469 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Industrial wastewater discharge (300), Rail grade crossing (72), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (66). 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: 36.8718, -83.8549.

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 Knox County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Kidney & renal pelvis	Deaths	9.4	3.4	2.76xSignificant	5.5 to 15.2	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	72	30.2	2.38xSignificant	60.8 to 84.9	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	120	51.8	2.32xSignificant	105.3 to 136.4	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	9	4.8	1.88xSignificant	5.2 to 14.7	2020-2024
Leukemia	New cases	24.4	14.5	1.68xSignificant	17.3 to 33.3	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	240	143.2	1.68xSignificant	218.5 to 263.2	2020-2024
Leukemia	Deaths	9.4	5.7	1.65x	5.3 to 15.3	2020-2024
Brain & nervous system	New cases	9.2	6.2	1.48x	5.2 to 15.2	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	18.7	13	1.44x	12.3 to 27.2	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	25.5	17.9	1.42xSignificant	18.8 to 34	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	26.2	18.5	1.42xSignificant	18.8 to 35.4	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	593.8	453.4	1.31xSignificant	558.7 to 630.6	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	8.4	6.6	1.27x	4.9 to 13.6	2020-2024
Pancreas	New cases	16.4	13.9	1.18x	11.1 to 23.4	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	New cases	10.2	8.7	1.17x	6.3 to 16	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	20.9	18.7	1.12x	15.1 to 28.4	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	11.9	11.3	1.05x	7.5 to 18.2	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	22.6	23.8	0.95x	16.3 to 30.8	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 Knox County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	15,275.4	9,842.6	+55%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	69.5	75.3	-8%	years
Child mortality	76.5	59.8	+28%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	8.3	6.2	+34%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	99.9	96.9	+3%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	43	28.6	+50%	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.

Formaldehyde18.49 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.87 per million
Acetaldehyde1.97 per million
Benzene0.96 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Industrial wastewater discharge300
Rail grade crossing72
NPDES wastewater discharge permit66
Gas station (mapped facility)12
Brownfield property7
Air permit holder (minor source)5
TRI reporting facility2
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)2
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)1
Heliport1
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.

Jackson Machine Sales Co Inc, Barbourville
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $7,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009953498 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.3
Kowa Kentucky Inc., Corbin
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nickel, Nitric acid. Reports carcinogens. 25 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 4070WKWKNT19KWA (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.6
Jackson Machine Sales Co Inc, Barbourville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $7,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009953498 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Jackson Wws Inc, Gray
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nickel, Chromium, Manganese, Copper. Reports carcinogens.
TRI facility ID 40906JCKSNHWY25 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.5
Kowa Kentucky , Inc., Corbin
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064463637 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.4
Keener Ridge Coals Inc (861-0531), Rossland
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009742332 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Gatliff Coal Co (861-0521), Bryants Store
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110055259241 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Kamco Llc [861-0545], Swanpond
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067373675 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Jmr Resources Llc [861-0560], Gray
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071239860 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Mountainside Coal Co Inc [918-0465], Siler [Knox]
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064586531 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Silver Diamond Coal Inc [861-0588], Woodbine
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070866774 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Jmr Resources Llc [861-0561], Barbourville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071502368 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Mountainside Coal Co Inc [861-0540], Barbourville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069418954 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Remcoal Inc [861-0556], Barbourville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $50,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070687747 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Phelps Energy And Resources 2 Llc [861-0586], Bryants Store
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071671134 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Stoney Fork Trucking [861-0585], Barbourville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071782680 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Barbourville Stp, Barbourville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006644765 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Northern Contours, Corbin
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017872417 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Mountainside Coal Co Inc [861-0528], Permon
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110055103971 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Old Knox County General Hospital, Barbourville
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038755077 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
246 Daniel Boone Dr, Barbourville
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043455016 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
529 Master St Corbin, Corbin
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043455043 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Blackstone Hotel Main St Barbourville, Barbourville
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043455052 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
117 High Street, Barbourville
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110045009655 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Former Bank Building, Barbourville
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071987482 (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.

No correctional facility with an EPA record is located in this county.

Discovery / public records

Records to request for Knox 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 Knox 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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