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Lewis County, Kentucky: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Lewis County is 198.6 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 2.3 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 170 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (84), Industrial wastewater discharge (34), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (34). 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: 38.5219, -83.3883.

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 Lewis County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	68.6	30.2	2.27xSignificant	52.9 to 88.2	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	91	51.8	1.76xSignificant	72.6 to 113.1	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	198.6	143.2	1.39xSignificant	170.2 to 230.8	2020-2024
Bladder	New cases	21.5	18.7	1.15x	13 to 34.2	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	498.3	453.4	1.1x	451.4 to 549.2	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	20.2	18.5	1.09x	11.6 to 33.1	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 Lewis County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	15,649	9,842.6	+59%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	70	75.3	-7%	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	124.7	96.9	+29%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	63.8	28.6	+123%	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.

Formaldehyde18.09 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.92 per million
Acetaldehyde1.86 per million
Benzene0.87 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing84
Industrial wastewater discharge34
NPDES wastewater discharge permit34
Gas station (mapped facility)9
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)2
TRI reporting facility2
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)2
Major air pollution source1
Brownfield property1
Scrapyard (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.

Superior Composites Co Llc, Vanceburg
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Styrene, Xylene (mixed isomers). Reports carcinogens. 269,461 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 41179HLLNMBLACK (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.7
Nelson Brothers Llc, Saint Paul
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110056983643 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.4
Superior Composites Co Llc, Vanceburg
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000591271 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.7
Nelson Brothers Llc, Quincy
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Ammonia. 3,691 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 4116WNLSNB42LDC (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.7
Superior Composites Co Llc, Vanceburg
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000591271 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Superior Composites Co Llc, Vanceburg
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000591271 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Coroplast , Llc, Vanceburg
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110032816852 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Nelson Brothers Llc, Saint Paul
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110056983643 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Shoe Factory, Vanceburg
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043315230 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Garrison Regional Wwtp, Garrison
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KY0105422: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.9
Saxony Village Apts, South Portsmouth
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009937140 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Lewis Co State Maintenance Garage, Vanceburg
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KYR004687: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.7
Black Oak Industrial Park, Vanceburg
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009935455 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
River Sand & Gravel, Vanceburg
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110021115791 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Vanceburg Stp, Vanceburg
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064260151 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Lewis Co Splash Pad, Vanceburg
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071428272 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Lewis Co State Maintenance Garage, Vanceburg
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071726154 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
River Sand & Gravel, Vanceburg
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KYG840239: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.1
Garrison Regional Wwtp, Garrison
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110016752593 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Bulk Plant Inc - Vanceburg #58, Vanceburg
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KY0039420: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2
Saxony Village Apts, South Portsmouth
Industrial wastewater discharge. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KY0075914: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 1.9
Tram Construction Inc, Garrison
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KYR004222: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 1.9
Lewis County Sd #1, Tollesboro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009933536 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Garrison Quincy Ky O Heights, Garrison
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009936267 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Madden Sawmill, Vanceburg
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071223082 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8

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 Lewis 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 Lewis 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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