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Spencer County, Kentucky: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Spencer County is 171.1 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. Federal databases place 191 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (108), Industrial wastewater discharge (76), Gas station (mapped facility) (4). 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: 38.0498, -85.3131.

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 Spencer County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	New cases	73.9	51.8	1.43xSignificant	58.5 to 92.4	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	18.4	13	1.42x	10.8 to 29.4	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	24.3	17.9	1.36x	16.4 to 35.2	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	18.9	14.5	1.3x	11 to 30.1	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	18.1	13.9	1.3x	10.6 to 28.9	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	39.1	30.2	1.29x	28.7 to 52.4	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	30.6	23.8	1.29x	21 to 43.4	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	549.3	453.4	1.21xSignificant	506.4 to 595.1	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	171.1	143.2	1.19xSignificant	147.1 to 198.2	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	19.5	18.5	1.05x	11.9 to 30.4	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	15.6	18.7	0.83x	9.1 to 25.3	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 Spencer County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	8,170	9,842.6	-17%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	76.2	75.3	+1%	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	75.6	96.9	-22%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	25.1	28.6	-12%	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.

Formaldehyde19.57 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.93 per million
Acetaldehyde2.23 per million
Benzene0.98 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.

NPDES wastewater discharge permit108
Industrial wastewater discharge76
Gas station (mapped facility)4
Public airport1
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.

Top Flight Wwtp, Taylorsville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $4,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110013811697 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Constance Driscoll Residence, Taylorsville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071727461 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Taylorsville Lake State Park, Taylorsville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070202615 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Taylorsville Stp, Taylorsville
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KY0028142: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.7
Former Pond Closure, Taylorsville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $1,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071725612 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Top Flight Wwtp, Taylorsville
Industrial wastewater discharge. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KY0105074: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.4
A & M Oil Co, Taylorsville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006017728 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Constance Driscoll Residence, Taylorsville
Industrial wastewater discharge. Significant/Category I Noncompliance.
NPDES permit KY0113735: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.2
Tanglewood Golf Course Llc, Taylorsville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071097757 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Tanglewood Golf Course Llc, Taylorsville
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KY0113069: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 1.8
Smyrna Ready Mix Concrete Plant 206, Taylorsville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069423537 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Taylorsville Stp, Taylorsville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006751728 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Joseph & Beverly Grom Residence, Taylorsville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110033016572 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Spencer Co Elementary & Middle Schools Reno/Add, New Athletic Facility & Campus, Taylorsville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110036686734 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Landon Laws Residence, Taylorsville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064632330 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Imi South Llc - Taylorsville 878, Taylorsville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070030150 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
David Brainer Residence, Elk Creek
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070054423 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Tarita Burton Residence, Taylorsville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070154858 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Kytc Project: Contract Id 194201, Taylorsville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070530341 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Dale & Barbara Moore Residence, Mount Washington
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070625911 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Jason Russell Property, Taylorsville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070705857 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Benjamin P Field Residence, Mount Eden
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070815104 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
George D Dahl Jr Residence, Fisherville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070831169 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Dollar General - Taylorsville, Taylorsville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070894096 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Tracy & Chad Holt Residence, Fisherville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070947978 (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 Spencer 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 Spencer 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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