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Lee County, Kentucky: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Lee County is 231.1 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 69 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (30), Industrial wastewater discharge (17), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (15). 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: 37.579, -83.7143.

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 Lee 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	44 to 91	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	99	51.8	1.91xSignificant	74.3 to 130.8	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	231.1	143.2	1.61xSignificant	190.3 to 279	2020-2024
Bladder	New cases	28.8	18.7	1.54x	16.2 to 48.9	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	507	453.4	1.12x	445.5 to 575.4	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 Lee County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	16,473.3	9,842.6	+67%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	68.3	75.3	-9%	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	192.2	96.9	+98%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	104.6	28.6	+266%	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.

Formaldehyde18.53 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.9 per million
Acetaldehyde1.98 per million
Benzene0.91 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing30
Industrial wastewater discharge17
NPDES wastewater discharge permit15
Gas station (mapped facility)3
Brownfield property2
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)2

Highest-severity records

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

Lee Co Wood Products, Beattyville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006809971 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Beattyville Water Works-Beattyville Wtp, Beattyville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $10,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006758883 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Former City Hall, Beattyville
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071974053 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Beattyville Existing City Hall, Beattyville
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071983336 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Beattyville Stp, Beattyville
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KY0021121: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 3
Lee Co State Maintenance & Equipment Garage, Beattyville
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KYR004676: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 3
Bretagne Llc - Big Sinking Oil, Leeco
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110012186099 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Lee Co State Maintenance & Equipment Garage, Beattyville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071659543 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Ktc Lee County Maintenance & Equipment Garage, Beattyville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006682456 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Beattyville Stp, Beattyville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009052087 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Wastewater Plant
Wastewater plant (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/1330963487 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Wastewater Plant
Wastewater plant (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/856113564 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Hinkle Contracting Company Llc - Yellow Rock Quarry, Beattyville
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KYG840190: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2
Cliffview Resort, Rogers
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KY0102580: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 1.8
Cliffview Resort, Rogers
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006809953 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Hinkle Contracting Company Llc - Yellow Rock Quarry, Beattyville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009744624 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Sturgeon Mining Co Inc (865-6003), Saint Helens
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010840714 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Ky 52 Lee County, Ky, Beattyville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110045057816 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Jmeg Mine Llc (865-0087), Beattyville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064615625 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Cid 211307 Reconstruct Ky 11, Booneville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070948307 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
235323 Goose Creek Rd Over Csx, Beattyville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071727438 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Lake Zachariah Dam Modification Project, Leeco
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071849202 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Prtc Reconnect 4 Contract 2, Beattyville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072255153 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Old Landing, Ravenna
Rail grade crossing.
Record ID 345858Y (Federal Railroad Administration)
Severity 1
Benton Road, Ravenna
Rail grade crossing.
Record ID 345859F (Federal Railroad Administration)
Severity 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 Lee 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 Lee 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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