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Rowan County, Kentucky: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Rowan County is 187.7 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 191 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Industrial wastewater discharge (85), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (64), Gas station (mapped facility) (20). 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: 38.207, -83.4424.

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 Rowan County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	60.1	30.2	1.99xSignificant	47.9 to 74.7	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	87	51.8	1.68xSignificant	72.3 to 104.2	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	187.7	143.2	1.31xSignificant	164.8 to 213	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	27.2	23.8	1.14x	18.5 to 38.5	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	489.8	453.4	1.08x	451.6 to 530.4	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	18.9	17.9	1.06x	11.7 to 28.9	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	12	13	0.92x	6.6 to 20	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	13.3	14.5	0.92x	7.7 to 21.6	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	11.5	13.9	0.83x	6.5 to 19	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	15.4	18.7	0.82x	9.3 to 24.2	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	13.6	18.5	0.74x	7.9 to 21.9	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 Rowan County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	13,748.9	9,842.6	+40%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	71.8	75.3	-5%	years
Child mortality	38	59.8	-36%	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	109	96.9	+12%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	78.5	28.6	+174%	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.

Formaldehyde18.46 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.9 per million
Acetaldehyde1.89 per million
Benzene0.95 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Industrial wastewater discharge85
NPDES wastewater discharge permit64
Gas station (mapped facility)20
Small hazardous waste generator5
Major air pollution source3
Air permit holder (minor source)3
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)2
Large greenhouse gas emitter2
Brownfield property1
Large hazardous waste generator1
Heliport1
Landfill (mapped facility)1
Biomass power plant1
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.

Resrg Automotive Trim Llc, Morehead (Rowan)
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $30,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000378911 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 10
Guardian Automotive - Morehead Plant, Morehead
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Xylene (mixed isomers), Methyl isobutyl ketone, Ammonia, Ethylbenzene and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 136,616 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 40351GRDNT200GU (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.4
Resrg Automotive Trim Llc, Morehead (Rowan)
Major air pollution source. Penalties $30,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000378911 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.5
Resrg Automotive Trim Llc, Morehead (Rowan)
Large hazardous waste generator. Penalties $30,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000378911 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
Resrg Automotive Trim Llc, Morehead (Rowan)
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $30,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000378911 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
Wm - Morehead Landfill, Morehead
Major air pollution source. Penalties $10,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010724626 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.3
Wm - Morehead Landfill, Morehead
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $10,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010724626 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.8
Wm - Morehead Landfill, Morehead
Large greenhouse gas emitter. Penalties $10,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010724626 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Appharvest, Morehead
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $15,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070936124 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Tilden Hogge Elementary School, Morehead
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110037480687 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Columbia Gulf Transmission Llc - Morehead Compressor Station, Morehead (Rowan)
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070222829 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Usda Usfs R08 Usda Forest Service - Twin Knobs Recreation Site, Morehead
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009939246 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Old Flemingsburg Road Properties, Morehead
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071980788 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Morehead Wwtp, Morehead
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110045085457 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Mcvantage Packaging Llc, Morehead
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KYR003746: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.9
Rowan Co State Maintenance Garage, Morehead [Rowan]
Industrial wastewater discharge. Significant/Category I Noncompliance.
NPDES permit KYR004696: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.8
Bulk Plant Inc - Morehead #410, Morehead
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110003237943 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Morehead Generating Facility, Morehead
Biomass power plant.
Record ID 62641 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 2.5
Columbia Gulf Transmission - Morehead Cs, Morehead
Large greenhouse gas emitter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070458579 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Independent Stave Co Cooperage, Morehead (Rowan)
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KYR004460: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.3
Independent Stave Co Cooperage, Morehead (Rowan)
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070925641 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Rowan Co State Maintenance Garage, Morehead [Rowan]
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071707084 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Morehead State University, Morehead
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110003230842 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Mcvantage Packaging Llc, Morehead (Rowan)
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006757465 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Morehead Utility Plant Board Water Treatment Plant, Farmers
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006758963 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2

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 Rowan 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 Rowan 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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