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Owsley County, Kentucky: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Owsley County is 263.2 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 2.8 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 64 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Industrial wastewater discharge (40), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (14), Brownfield property (7). 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: 37.3982, -83.6849.

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 Owsley County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	84.8	30.2	2.81xSignificant	53.4 to 129.7	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	132.8	51.8	2.56xSignificant	92.8 to 186	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	263.2	143.2	1.84xSignificant	205.3 to 334	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	604.3	453.4	1.33xSignificant	513.7 to 707.7	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 Owsley County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	23,920.4	9,842.6	+143%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	64.5	75.3	-14%	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	232.2	96.9	+140%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	81.9	28.6	+186%	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.

Formaldehyde17.9 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.89 per million
Acetaldehyde1.96 per million
Benzene0.81 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Industrial wastewater discharge40
NPDES wastewater discharge permit14
Brownfield property7
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)1
Gas station (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.

Booneville Water Plant, Booneville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $5,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064602283 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Booneville Baker Property, Booneville
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015330756 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Old Booneville Theater, Booneville
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071965069 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Former Jail, Booneville
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071973077 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Lerose Pioneer Village, Booneville
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071974052 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Seale Theater, Booneville
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071974054 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Owsley County Action Team, Booneville
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071976182 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Booneville Lots For Partnership Housing, Booneville
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071980165 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Booneville Water Plant, Booneville
Industrial wastewater discharge. Significant/Category I Noncompliance.
NPDES permit KY0109771: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.6
Booneville Stp, Booneville
Industrial wastewater discharge. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KY0033774: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.5
Sturgeon Mining Co Inc (895-0150), Vincent
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $15,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110013668058 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
D & H Coal Co Of Laurel County Inc (813-0265), Morris Fork
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $155,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110013680169 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Sturgeon Mining Co Inc (895-0171), Mistletoe
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $15,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110027364091 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Davis Energy Llc (813-0355), Morris Fork
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $785,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110055259358 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Sturgeon Mining Co Inc (895-0171), Mistletoe
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $15,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069605902 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Searcy & Strong Funeral Home, Booneville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009012941 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Searcy & Strong Funeral Home, Booneville
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KY0098477: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2
Booneville Stp, Booneville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009696347 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Owsley Co State Maintenance Garage, Booneville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009744125 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Landfill
Landfill (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/849827273 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
The Carpenters Village, Booneville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006750131 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Dollar General, Booneville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071363876 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
White Oak 69 Kv Substation Rebuild Project, Ricetown
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071365706 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
New Bridge Over Sturgeon Creek In Owsley County, Booneville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072108238 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Jessica Young Residence, Booneville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072256701 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5

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 Owsley 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 Owsley 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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