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Hancock County, Maine: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Hancock County is 145.1 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. The strongest disease signals are Bladder deaths at 1.6 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 394 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (101), Industrial wastewater discharge (66), Rail grade crossing (48). EPA AirToxScreen estimates a lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics of 20 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: 44.7363, -68.3356.

How this county ranks in Maine

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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 Hancock County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Esophagus	New cases	7.8	4.6	1.7xSignificant	5.5 to 11	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	39.3	23.8	1.65xSignificant	32.5 to 47	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	20.7	13	1.59xSignificant	15.4 to 27.3	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	29.7	18.7	1.59xSignificant	25 to 35.3	2019-2023
Bladder	Deaths	6.4	4.1	1.56xSignificant	4.4 to 9.5	2020-2024
Esophagus	Deaths	5.5	3.7	1.49x	3.6 to 8.2	2020-2024
Leukemia	New cases	19.7	14.5	1.36xSignificant	15.3 to 25.1	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	527.4	453.4	1.16xSignificant	504.5 to 551.1	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	16.1	13.9	1.16x	12.5 to 20.7	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	59	51.8	1.14xSignificant	52.5 to 66.5	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	19.7	17.9	1.1x	15.3 to 25	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	New cases	6.7	6.2	1.08x	4 to 10.8	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	19.8	18.5	1.07x	15.8 to 24.8	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	5	4.8	1.04x	3.2 to 7.6	2020-2024
Brain & nervous system	Deaths	4.5	4.4	1.02x	2.5 to 7.6	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	30.8	30.2	1.02x	26.2 to 36.3	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	145.1	143.2	1.01x	134.2 to 156.8	2020-2024
Pancreas	Deaths	11	11.3	0.97x	8.3 to 14.7	2020-2024
Leukemia	Deaths	5.5	5.7	0.96x	3.4 to 8.6	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	Deaths	3.2	3.4	0.94x	1.8 to 5.7	2020-2024
Stomach	New cases	5.7	6.6	0.86x	3.8 to 8.6	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	4.2	6.6	0.64x	2.6 to 6.8	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	New cases	5.4	8.7	0.62x	3.4 to 8.4	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 Hancock County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	7,939.8	9,842.6	-19%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	78.1	75.3	+4%	years
Child mortality	43.7	59.8	-27%	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	108.7	96.9	+12%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	35.7	28.6	+25%	deaths per 100,000

Air toxics and air quality

EPA AirToxScreen 2020

Lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics: 20 in a million. EPA treats 100 in a million as the upper end of acceptable risk and 1 in a million as the goal.

Formaldehyde8.76 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride3.06 per million
Acetaldehyde0.92 per million
Benzene0.85 per million

EPA Air Quality Index 2025

Monitored on 365 days: 332 good, 4 unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse. Median AQI 35, peak 133.

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit101
Industrial wastewater discharge66
Rail grade crossing48
Gas station (mapped facility)41
Brownfield property36
Air permit holder (minor source)30
Small hazardous waste generator17
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)10
Landfill (mapped facility)8
Large hazardous waste generator6
Public airport5
Combined sewer overflow outfall5
Heliport4
Wind power plant4
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)3
EPA air quality monitor2
Major air pollution source1
Commercial airport1
Hydroelectric plant1
Gas power plant1
Scrapyard (mapped facility)1
Superfund (NPL) site1
TRI reporting facility1
Wastewater plant (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.

Callahan Mine, Brooksville
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 50. NPL Site.
EPA site ID MED980524128 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Hinckley Co, Trenton
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Styrene. Reports carcinogens. 31,122 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 04605HNCKLINDUS (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.9
Penobscot Bay Terminals Dba Webber Tanks Inc, Bucksport
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: 1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene, Ethylbenzene, n-Hexane, Naphthalene and 3 more. Reports carcinogens. 269 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 0441WWBBRT93RIV (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.4
Hinckley Yachts, Trenton
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008433374 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.7
Hancock County/Bar Harbor, Bar Harbor
Commercial airport. O.
Record ID BHB (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 5
Southwest Harbor Wwtf, Southwest Harbor
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110025390253 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Castine Wastewater Treatment Facility, Castine
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009912899 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Bar Harbor Wwtf Main Facility, Bar Harbor
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064596815 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Stonington Sd Wwtf, Stonington
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008993358 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Bucksport Wwtf, Bucksport
Combined sewer overflow outfall. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit ME0100111:001 (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4
Bucksport Wwtf, Bucksport
Combined sewer overflow outfall. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit ME0100111:013 (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4
Bar Harbor Wwtf Main Facility, Bar Harbor
Combined sewer overflow outfall. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit ME0101214:004 (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4
Bar Harbor Wwtf Main Facility, Bar Harbor
Combined sewer overflow outfall. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit ME0101214:006 (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4
Bar Harbor Wwtf Main Facility, Bar Harbor
Combined sewer overflow outfall. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit ME0101214:007 (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4
Verso Paper Bucksport Mill, Bucksport
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110025329963 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Blue Hill, Wastewater Treatment Facility, Blue Hill
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009912906 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Mount Desert Island Hospital, Bar Harbor
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043220038 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Acadia Aqua Farms Llc/Stewardship Gem, Inc, Trenton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110063851504 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Bucksport Generation Llc, Bucksport
Gas power plant.
Record ID 50243 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 3.2
Lobster Web Processing Plant, Gouldsboro (Prospect Harbor)
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110012172059 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Verso Paper Bucksport Mill, Bucksport
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110025329963 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Stonington Lobster Co-Op, Stonington
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110032618380 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Morrison Chevrolet Automobile Dealership, Ellsworth
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038698380 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Windmill Hill, Castine
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039062402 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Sammis Property, Hancock
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040209413 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3

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 Hancock County

Maine 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 Hancock County, and their findings.
Maine vital statistics office
Death certificate counts by cause of death and residence tract or ZIP code, and the years behind the mortality measures above.
Maine health department, environmental epidemiology
Health consultations or assessments by ATSDR or the state health department covering the county, and any exposure investigations.
Maine 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.
Maine 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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