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Lawrence County, Kentucky: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Lawrence County is 248.8 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 2.2 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 339 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Industrial wastewater discharge (183), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (83), Rail grade crossing (64). 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: 38.0747, -82.7513.

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 Lawrence County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	65.6	30.2	2.17xSignificant	51.3 to 83.1	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	103.8	51.8	2xSignificant	85.7 to 125	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	248.8	143.2	1.74xSignificant	218.8 to 282.2	2020-2024
Bladder	New cases	28.9	18.7	1.55xSignificant	19.5 to 41.7	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	19.3	13	1.48x	10.7 to 32	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	25.3	18.5	1.37x	16.2 to 37.9	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	557.8	453.4	1.23xSignificant	512.1 to 606.7	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	20.8	17.9	1.16x	12.5 to 32.8	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	23.7	23.8	1x	15 to 35.8	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 Lawrence County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	14,424.4	9,842.6	+47%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	70.5	75.3	-6%	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	135.9	96.9	+40%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	62.7	28.6	+119%	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.

Formaldehyde18.89 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.91 per million
Acetaldehyde2 per million
Benzene1.1 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Industrial wastewater discharge183
NPDES wastewater discharge permit83
Rail grade crossing64
Gas station (mapped facility)4
Gas power plant2
Major air pollution source1
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)1
Landfill (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.

Eastern Ky Mining Inc [864-0239], Martha
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $94,960.
EPA FRS registry ID 110024583912 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
East Ky Mining Company Llc, Terryville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $94,960.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070926259 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5
Valero Fuel Truck Stop #206, Louisa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $3,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110016705760 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Riverside Generating Llc, Catlettsburg
Gas power plant.
Record ID 55198 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 3.8
American Electric Power Big Sandy Plant, Louisa
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000591280 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Mayo Resources Inc [864-0225], Clifford
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $179,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067236645 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Argus Energy Llc (864-0168 & 864-9002), Peach Orchard
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $179,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067567948 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Big Sandy, Louisa
Gas power plant.
Record ID 1353 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 3.3
Lawrence County Fiscal Court, Louisa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $2,225.
EPA FRS registry ID 110045080336 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
American Electric Power Big Sandy Plant, Louisa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000591280 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Louisa Stp, Louisa
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KY0027961: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 3
Argus Energy Llc (864-0168 & 864-9002), Peach Orchard
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KYGE40929: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 3
Mayo Resources Inc [864-0225], Clifford
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KYGE40703: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.9
Case Mart Inc, Louisa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009933359 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Lawrence Co State Maintenance Garage, Louisa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110045076387 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Argus Energy Llc [864-0167], Peach Orchard
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $179,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064586504 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Big Sandy Land Co Llc [864-0255], Charley
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $5,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067018168 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Big Sandy Land Co Llc (864-0226), Louisa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $5,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069574712 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Ktc Lawrence County Maintenance Garage, Louisa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006682410 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Mountain Enterprises Inc - Louisa Plant 17, Louisa
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KYG110010: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.2
Fallsburg Elementary School, Louisa
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KY0083640: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.1
Martha Gas Plant, Martha
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006014936 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
D & J Coal Co Llc (864-0232), Mazie
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110044898251 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Reco Products & Services Llc [864-0261], Louisa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067176665 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Landfill
Landfill (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/1298595094 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2

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 Lawrence 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 Lawrence 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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