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Lincoln County, Kentucky: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Lincoln County is 208.3 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Lung & bronchus deaths at 2 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 118 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Industrial wastewater discharge (39), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (37), Rail grade crossing (23). 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: 37.451, -84.658.

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 Lincoln County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Thyroid	New cases	28.7	13	2.21xSignificant	19.8 to 40.2	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	61	30.2	2.02xSignificant	49.8 to 74.2	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	44.8	23.8	1.88xSignificant	33.9 to 58.2	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	93.5	51.8	1.81xSignificant	79.6 to 109.5	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	208.3	143.2	1.45xSignificant	186.2 to 232.4	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	24.4	17.9	1.36x	17.1 to 34	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	606.1	453.4	1.34xSignificant	566.6 to 647.8	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	24.7	18.5	1.34x	17.1 to 34.7	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	24.1	18.7	1.29x	16.9 to 33.6	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	11.7	11.3	1.04x	6.8 to 19.1	2020-2024
Pancreas	New cases	14.1	13.9	1.01x	8.7 to 21.8	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	11.8	14.5	0.81x	6.8 to 19.3	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 Lincoln County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	14,551.4	9,842.6	+48%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	70.5	75.3	-6%	years
Child mortality	67	59.8	+12%	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	138.2	96.9	+43%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	60.2	28.6	+111%	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 Tetrachloride2.9 per million
Acetaldehyde1.98 per million
Benzene0.86 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Industrial wastewater discharge39
NPDES wastewater discharge permit37
Rail grade crossing23
Gas station (mapped facility)7
Major air pollution source3
Commercial airport1
Brownfield property1
Large greenhouse gas emitter1
Large hazardous waste generator1
Small hazardous waste generator1
Heliport1
Landfill (mapped facility)1
TRI reporting facility1
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)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.

Decoart Inc, Stanford
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nonylphenol Ethoxylates, Ethylene glycol. 4,005 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 4048WDCRTNUS27U (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.8
Decoart Llc, Stanford
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110002067450 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Texas Eastern Transmission Lp - Danville Compressor Station, Danville
Major air pollution source. Penalties $75,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009573933 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Highland Elementary School, Waynesburg
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $3,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110021531047 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Waynesburg Elementary School, Waynesburg
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $3,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110032815470 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Texas Eastern Transmission Lp - Danville Compressor Station, Danville
Large hazardous waste generator. Penalties $75,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009573933 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Texas Eastern Transmission Lp - Danville Compressor Station, Danville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $75,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009573933 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Crab Orchard Stp, Crab Orchard
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $1,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009937514 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Tri-K Landfill Inc, Stanford
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110014015939 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Lincoln Co Wastewater Collection, Stanford
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067380195 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Archaea Energy - Lightning Renewables - Tri-K Rng, Stanford
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071861841 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Stanford Stp, Stanford
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006752102 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Former Lincoln Scrap Metal, Crab Orchard
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038751749 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Tri-K Landfill Inc, Stanford
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110014015939 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Eastern Kentucky Recycling, Crab Orchard
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040609712 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Lincoln Co State Maintenance Garage, Stanford
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009960248 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Tri K Landfill Inc, Stanford
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KY0093033: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.7
Tri-K Landfill Inc, Stanford
Large greenhouse gas emitter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110014015939 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Lincoln Co Ready Mix Inc, Stanford
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KYG110093: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.5
Stanford Water Co, Stanford
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KYG640036: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.1
Lincoln Co Ready Mix Inc, Stanford
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067647265 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Stuart Powell Fld, Danville
Commercial airport. O.
Record ID DVK (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Republic Services Tri-K Landfill
Landfill (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/1227696557 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Stanford Water Co, Stanford
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009959731 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Kings Mountain Citizens Center, Waynesburg
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110031274662 (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 Lincoln 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 Lincoln 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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