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Mason County, Kentucky: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Mason County is 185.9 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 1.7 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 238 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Industrial wastewater discharge (73), Rail grade crossing (54), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (43). 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: 38.6191, -83.8046.

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 Mason County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	New cases	90	51.8	1.74xSignificant	73.2 to 109.8	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	50.7	30.2	1.68xSignificant	38.4 to 66	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	27.9	17.9	1.56xSignificant	18.1 to 41.2	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	185.9	143.2	1.3xSignificant	161.2 to 213.7	2020-2024
Thyroid	New cases	16.2	13	1.25x	9.1 to 26.8	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	29.3	23.8	1.23x	20 to 41.7	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	16.6	13.9	1.19x	10 to 26.4	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	534.5	453.4	1.18xSignificant	491.4 to 580.7	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	16.3	14.5	1.12x	9.7 to 26.2	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	17	18.7	0.91x	10.4 to 26.8	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 Mason County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	12,340.3	9,842.6	+25%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	72.2	75.3	-4%	years
Child mortality	64.1	59.8	+7%	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	96.3	96.9	-1%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	47.2	28.6	+65%	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.

Formaldehyde18.08 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.93 per million
Acetaldehyde1.96 per million
Benzene0.97 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Industrial wastewater discharge73
Rail grade crossing54
NPDES wastewater discharge permit43
Gas station (mapped facility)18
Combined sewer overflow outfall15
TRI reporting facility5
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)5
Major air pollution source4
Brownfield property4
Small hazardous waste generator4
Air permit holder (minor source)3
Large greenhouse gas emitter3
Large hazardous waste generator2
Public airport1
Commercial airport1
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)1
Heliport1
Coal power plant1

Highest-severity records

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

Spurlock Power Station, Maysville
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Manganese compounds, Manganese And Manganese Compounds, Zinc compounds, Vanadium compounds and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 8,373,695 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 41056SPRLCRTE8X (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 9.8
Carmeuse Lime & Stone Maysville Facility, Maysville
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Hydrochloric acid (acid aerosols including mists, vapors, gas, fog, and other airborne forms of any particle size), Lead compounds, Mercury And Mercury Compounds, Dioxin and dioxin-like compounds. Reports carcinogens. 278,209 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 41056DRVLMROUTE (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.7
Carmeuse Lime & Stone Inc, Maysville
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043813219 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.5
H L Spurlock, Maysville
Coal power plant.
Record ID 6041 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 7.3
East Ky Power Coop - Spurlock Station, Maysville
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110012142127 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.3
Carmeuse Lime & Stone Inc, Maysville
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043813219 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Maysville Stp, Maysville
Combined sewer overflow outfall. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KY0020257: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 6
International Paper, Maysville
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead, Mercury. Reports carcinogens. 35 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 41056NLNDC1241M (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.7
Carmeuse Lime & Stone Inc, Maysville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043813219 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Wald L L C, Maysville
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000874894 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.4
Temple-Inland, Maysville
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000379812 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.2
Carmeuse Lime & Stone Inc, Maysville
Large greenhouse gas emitter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043813219 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5
Wald Llc, Maysville
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead compounds, Lead And Lead Compounds. 44 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 41056WLDLL800E5 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.3
Temple-Inland, Maysville
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000379812 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Green Tokai Co - Maysville, Maysville
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110003248977 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Wald L L C, Maysville
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000874894 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Wald L L C, Maysville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000874894 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
East Ky Power Coop - Spurlock Station, Maysville
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110012142127 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Maysville-Mason County Landfill, Maysville
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110037391774 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Maysville Stp, Maysville
Combined sewer overflow outfall. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KY0020257:001 (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4
Maysville Stp, Maysville
Combined sewer overflow outfall. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KY0020257:002 (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4
Maysville Stp, Maysville
Combined sewer overflow outfall. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KY0020257:003 (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4
Maysville Stp, Maysville
Combined sewer overflow outfall. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KY0020257:004 (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4
Maysville Stp, Maysville
Combined sewer overflow outfall. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KY0020257:005 (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4
Maysville Stp, Maysville
Combined sewer overflow outfall. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KY0020257:006 (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4

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 Mason 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 Mason 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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