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Wolfe County, Kentucky: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Wolfe County is 223.9 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 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 104 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Industrial wastewater discharge (68), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (26), Gas station (mapped facility) (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: 37.7403, -83.4889.

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 Wolfe County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	New cases	117.3	51.8	2.26xSignificant	89.2 to 153	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	60.6	30.2	2.01xSignificant	39.7 to 89.9	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	223.9	143.2	1.56xSignificant	181.2 to 274.5	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	674.9	453.4	1.49xSignificant	597.6 to 760.1	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 Wolfe County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	22,193.4	9,842.6	+125%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	65.5	75.3	-13%	years
Child mortality	163.4	59.8	+173%	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	183.4	96.9	+89%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	99.9	28.6	+249%	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.

Formaldehyde18.27 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.89 per million
Acetaldehyde1.9 per million
Benzene0.83 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Industrial wastewater discharge68
NPDES wastewater discharge permit26
Gas station (mapped facility)7
Brownfield property3

Highest-severity records

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

Campton Stp, Campton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $2,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009939068 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Rio Mining Management Llc (919-0071), Helechawa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110055033725 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Hazel Green Academy-Gym, Hazel Green
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071973079 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Miller Memorial, Campton
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071974064 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Bethany Hospital, Campton
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071974065 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Dessie Scott Childrens Home, Pine Ridge
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $4,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110012315743 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Rogers Elementary School, Rogers
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110031274760 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Wolfe Co State Maintenance Lot #398, Campton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110045027957 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Hazel Green Distribution Center, Hazel Green
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $3,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110024400851 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Rolling Frito-Lay Sales Lp - Campton Bin, Campton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110056400283 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Wolfe Co State Maintenance Dome, Campton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009960319 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Red River Elementary School, Hazel Green
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110031274751 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Dessie Scott Childrens Home, Pine Ridge
Industrial wastewater discharge. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit KY0082651: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.1
Wolfe Co Transfer Station, Campton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110063217228 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Mountain Parkway Curve Reconstruction, Campton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070154929 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Improve Ky 191, Campton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071923869 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Jared Neal Residence, Rogers
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071951435 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Micah Carrell Residence, Rogers
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072084184 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
George Hoadley Residence, Rogers
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072084813 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Alexis Hatton Residence, Campton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072109367 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Dollar General, Campton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072144060 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
David & Virginia Spencer Residence, Rogers
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072161420 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
David & Virginia Spencer Residence, Rogers
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072164042 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Kas Vacation Properties Llc Residence, Campton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072175665 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Mav Group K Llc Residence, Pine Ridge
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072246579 (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 Wolfe 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 Wolfe 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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