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Rockcastle County, Kentucky: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Rockcastle County is 214.9 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 2.2 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 127 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (42), Industrial wastewater discharge (41), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (26). 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: 37.3465, -84.3152.

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 Rockcastle County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Stomach	New cases	19.9	6.6	3.02xSignificant	11.6 to 31.9	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	120.5	51.8	2.33xSignificant	101.4 to 142.6	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	66	30.2	2.19xSignificant	52.1 to 83	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	37.8	23.8	1.59xSignificant	26.2 to 53	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	19.9	13	1.53x	11.6 to 32	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	214.9	143.2	1.5xSignificant	188.3 to 244.7	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	591.6	453.4	1.3xSignificant	545 to 641.4	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	22.5	18.5	1.22x	14.3 to 34.2	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	21.4	17.9	1.2x	12.9 to 33.7	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	15.3	18.7	0.82x	9 to 25.1	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 Rockcastle County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	16,971.5	9,842.6	+72%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	69.2	75.3	-8%	years
Child mortality	85.3	59.8	+43%	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	119.9	96.9	+24%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	65.2	28.6	+128%	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.

Formaldehyde18.33 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.88 per million
Acetaldehyde1.97 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

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

Rail grade crossing42
Industrial wastewater discharge41
NPDES wastewater discharge permit26
Gas station (mapped facility)10
Brownfield property5
Airfield1
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)1
Heliport1

Highest-severity records

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

Brodhead Wwtp, Brodhead
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009937747 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Livingston Stp, Livingston
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $2,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009938112 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Mount Vernon Stp, Mount Vernon
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $2,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006655191 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Jones Building, Mt. Vernon
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110045092582 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Livingston School, Livingston
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071968279 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Mt Vernon Trailer Park, Mount Vernon
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071974058 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Mt. Vernon-Parsons Bldg, Mount Vernon
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071977921 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Former Rockcastle Manufacturing, Mount Vernon
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071977929 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Rockcastle Co State Maintenance Garage, Mount Vernon [Rockcastle]
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009744018 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Brodhead Wwtp, Brodhead
Industrial wastewater discharge. Significant/Category I Noncompliance.
NPDES permit KY0047431: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 3
Chapin International Inc, Mount Vernon
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KYR004468: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 3
East Anderson Hardwoods Llc, Mount Vernon [Rockcastle]
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KYR003842: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.9
Mt Vernon Plant, Rockcastle
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064513110 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Triple Crown Concrete A Division Of Hinkle Contracting Co Llc-Mt Vernon, Mount Vernon [Rockcastle]
Industrial wastewater discharge. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KYG110184: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.7
Roundstone Elementary School, Mount Vernon
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110036808041 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Livingston Stp, Livingston
Industrial wastewater discharge. Significant/Category I Noncompliance.
NPDES permit KY0040703: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.4
J & R Autosales & Autoparts Llc, Mount Vernon
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064510060 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Roundstone Elementary School, Mount Vernon
Industrial wastewater discharge. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KY0077534: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2
Cummins Lumber Mill, Mount Vernon [Rockcastle]
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015608476 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Heidelberg Materials Midwest Aggregates Inc - Mt Vernon Quarry, Mount Vernon
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009958652 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Mount Vernon Water Treatment Plant, Mount Vernon
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009959358 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
L-M Asphalt Partners Ltd, Mount Vernon [Rockcastle]
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110022548215 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Rockcastle Co Middle School New Building, Mount Vernon (Rockcastle)
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110045055435 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Mt Vernon Asphalt Plant, Mount Vernon [Rockcastle]
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110056349189 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
East Anderson Hardwoods Llc, Mount Vernon [Rockcastle]
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110056983607 (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 Rockcastle 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 Rockcastle 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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