NY / county FIPS 36023 / county research

Cortland County, New York: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Cortland County is 160.9 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 1.3 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 287 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (90), Rail grade crossing (64), Large hazardous waste generator (30). 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: 42.6058, -76.0721.

How this county ranks in New York

View on the heat map Scan an address in this county

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 Cortland County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Thyroid	New cases	22	13	1.69xSignificant	16 to 29.4	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	Deaths	6.9	4.4	1.57x	4.1 to 11	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	73.2	51.8	1.41xSignificant	63.7 to 83.8	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	20.1	14.5	1.39xSignificant	15.1 to 26.4	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	24.9	18.5	1.35xSignificant	19.4 to 31.6	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	23.9	18.7	1.28x	18.6 to 30.4	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	38.5	30.2	1.27xSignificant	31.7 to 46.5	2020-2024
Stomach	New cases	7.8	6.6	1.18x	4.7 to 12.2	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	529.3	453.4	1.17xSignificant	502 to 557.8	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	160.9	143.2	1.12xSignificant	146.4 to 176.6	2020-2024
Leukemia	Deaths	6.4	5.7	1.12x	3.9 to 10.3	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	20	17.9	1.12x	14.8 to 26.4	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	New cases	9.4	8.7	1.08x	6.2 to 13.9	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	24.7	23.8	1.04x	18.9 to 31.8	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	6.6	6.6	1x	4.1 to 10.4	2020-2024
Pancreas	Deaths	11.2	11.3	0.99x	7.7 to 15.9	2020-2024
Pancreas	New cases	13.4	13.9	0.96x	9.5 to 18.5	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	New cases	5.8	6.2	0.94x	3.4 to 9.5	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 Cortland County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	8,256.1	9,842.6	-16%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	76.2	75.3	+1%	years
Child mortality	36.6	59.8	-39%	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	60.8	96.9	-37%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	29.4	28.6	+3%	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.

Formaldehyde12.17 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.91 per million
Benzene1.5 per million
Acetaldehyde1.25 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit90
Rail grade crossing64
Large hazardous waste generator30
Small hazardous waste generator28
Air permit holder (minor source)24
Gas station (mapped facility)17
Brownfield property13
TRI reporting facility6
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)6
Public airport3
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)2
Solar power plant2
Major air pollution source1
Superfund (NPL) site1

Highest-severity records

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

Rosen Brothers Scrap Yard/Dump, Cortland
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 51.4. NPL Site.
EPA site ID NYD982272734 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Pall Corp Pall Trinity Micro Div, Cortlandville
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Dichloromethane, tert-Butyl alcohol, Nickel, Chromium. Reports carcinogens. 127,630 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 13045PLLTR3643W (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.4
Pall Trinity Micro, Cortland
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000325229 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.8
Le Roy R Summerson Wwtf, Cortland
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110019654275 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Polkville Crushed Stone/Suit-Kote Terminal, Mc Graw
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Polycyclic aromatic compounds, Benzo[g,h,i]perylene. Reports carcinogens. 57 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 13101PLKVLRT11R (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.9
Polkville Crushed Stone/Suit-Kote Terminal, Mc Graw
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007146882 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.8
Suit-Kote Corporation - Cortland Asphalt, Cortland
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001567652 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.6
Cortland Co Landfill, Mcgraw
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $1,300.
EPA FRS registry ID 110030921858 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
East River Dairy, Cortland
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $5,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070667271 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Janis Solar, Willet
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $98,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071438663 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Pall Trinity Micro, Cortland
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000325229 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Cortland Asphalt Products, Cortland
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Polycyclic aromatic compounds, Benzo[g,h,i]perylene. Reports carcinogens. 4 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 13045CRTLN1911L (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5
Pall Trinity Micro, Cortland
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000325229 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Pall Trinity Micro, Cortland
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000325229 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Economy Paving Co Inc, Cortland
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $7,930.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070390604 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Suit-Kote Corporation - Cortland Asphalt, Cortland
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001567652 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Marathon (V) Stp, Marathon
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009828972 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Cuyler (T) Sd#1, Cuyler
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110019815636 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Bestway Enterprises Inc, Cortland
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000325201 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Marybelle Homes, Preble, Town Of
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $27,900.
EPA FRS registry ID 110019262590 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Saulsbury Fire Rescue Inc., E-One, Inc., Preble
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110041979918 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
C'Ville Yoghurt Inc, Cortland
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110056390150 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Preble Hill Farm, Llc, Preble
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $28,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070669825 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Virgil (T) Sd#1 Wwtp, Cortland
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110019116589 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Suit-Kote Homer Materials, Homer
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110030928646 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3

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 Cortland County

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

Scan an address in Cortland County View on the heat map All New York counties