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Carbon County, Pennsylvania: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Carbon County is 170.1 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Pancreas deaths at 1.3 times the U.S. rate and Lung & bronchus deaths at 1.2 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 367 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (133), Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility) (46), Rail grade crossing (38). One correctional facility operates in the county, at least one with health-based drinking water violations on record. 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: 40.9365, -75.7474.

How this county ranks in Pennsylvania

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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 Carbon County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Esophagus	New cases	6.7	4.6	1.46x	4.6 to 9.7	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	73.9	51.8	1.43xSignificant	66.6 to 81.9	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	26.5	18.7	1.42xSignificant	22.1 to 31.5	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	18.2	13	1.4xSignificant	13.8 to 23.5	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	14.9	11.3	1.32xSignificant	11.7 to 18.7	2020-2024
Bladder	Deaths	5.4	4.1	1.32x	3.6 to 8	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	23	17.9	1.28xSignificant	18.7 to 28.2	2019-2023
Leukemia	Deaths	6.9	5.7	1.21x	4.7 to 10	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	35.9	30.2	1.19xSignificant	31 to 41.4	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	170.1	143.2	1.19xSignificant	158.8 to 182.2	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	Deaths	4	3.4	1.18x	2.4 to 6.4	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	7.7	6.6	1.17x	5.3 to 11	2020-2024
Esophagus	Deaths	4.3	3.7	1.16x	2.6 to 6.9	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	524.6	453.4	1.16xSignificant	503.7 to 546.3	2019-2023
Stomach	New cases	7.5	6.6	1.14x	5.2 to 10.6	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	16.4	14.5	1.13x	12.8 to 20.8	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	20.9	18.5	1.13x	16.7 to 25.9	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	15.5	13.9	1.12x	12.3 to 19.4	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	New cases	9.3	8.7	1.07x	6.8 to 12.7	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	24.5	23.8	1.03x	20.1 to 29.7	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	Deaths	3.9	4.4	0.89x	2.3 to 6.4	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	3.6	4.8	0.75x	2.1 to 5.8	2020-2024
Brain & nervous system	New cases	4.3	6.2	0.69x	2.4 to 7.1	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 Carbon County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	10,783.6	9,842.6	+10%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	74.5	75.3	-1%	years
Child mortality	48.1	59.8	-20%	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	149.1	96.9	+54%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	60	28.6	+110%	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.

Formaldehyde15.88 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.92 per million
Benzene1.59 per million
Acetaldehyde1.55 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit133
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)46
Rail grade crossing38
Gas station (mapped facility)33
Air permit holder (minor source)31
Small hazardous waste generator24
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)8
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)8
Hazardous waste transporter7
TRI reporting facility7
Public airport6
Major air pollution source3
EPA air quality monitor3
Large hazardous waste generator3
Heliport3
Scrapyard (mapped facility)3
Large greenhouse gas emitter2
Solar power plant2
Superfund (NPL) site2
Airfield1
Brownfield property1
Correctional facility (prison or jail)1
Dry cleaner (mapped facility)1
Coal power plant1

Highest-severity records

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

Palmerton Zinc Pile, Palmerton
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 42.9. NPL Site.
EPA site ID PAD002395887 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Tonolli Corp., Nesquehoning
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 46.6. NPL Site.
EPA site ID PAD073613663 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Befesa Zinc Us Inc, Palmerton
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000603749 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 8.9
Panther Creek Power Operating Llc, Nesquehoning
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Hydrochloric acid (acid aerosols including mists, vapors, gas, fog, and other airborne forms of any particle size), Barium And Barium Compounds, Manganese And Manganese Compounds, Vanadium compounds and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 480,082 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 18240PNTHRRTE54 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.9
Befesa Zinc Us Inc., Palmerton
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Zinc compounds, Lead compounds, Mercury compounds, Manganese compounds and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 131,007 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 18071HRSHDDELAW (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.4
Panther Creek Energy Facility, Nesquehoning
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $80,050.
EPA FRS registry ID 110030471610 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 8.2
Kme Corp, Nesquehoning
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Toluene, Xylene (mixed isomers), Ethylbenzene, Methyl isobutyl ketone. Reports carcinogens. 11,964 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 18240KMXXXRTE54 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.6
Ametek/Westchester Plastics Div, Nesquehoning
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110057277496 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.6
Ampal, Palmerton
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Aluminum (fume or dust), Lead, Copper compounds, Copper And Copper Compounds. Reports carcinogens. 8,247 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 18071MPLNCRD2LI (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.5
Befesa Zinc Us Inc, Palmerton
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000603749 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.5
Hazleton Oil & Environmental Inc, Hazleton
Large hazardous waste generator. Penalties $53,950.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001083309 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.5
Panther Creek Energy Facility, Nesquehoning
Coal power plant.
Record ID 50776 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 6.1
Westchester Plastics Llc, Nesquehoning
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Acrylic acid, Maleic anhydride, Lead. Reports carcinogens. 100 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 18240MTKWSGREEN (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6
Befesa Zinc Us Inc, Palmerton
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000603749 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Befesa Zinc Us Inc, Palmerton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000603749 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Blew Enterprises, Inc, Lehighton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $4,750.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000817689 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Ampal Inc/Palmerton, Palmerton
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110005981937 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Airgas Specialty Products-Palmerton Pa, Palmerton
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia. 6,535 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 18071CRBNRPOBOX (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.9
Airgas Specialty Products, Palmerton
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009162583 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.9
Befesa Zinc Us Inc, Palmerton
Large greenhouse gas emitter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000603749 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Weatherly Casting & Mach Co Llc/Weatherly Plt, Weatherly
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010990419 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Cedarville Wwtp, Lehighton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $14,377.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000941027 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Nis Hollow Est Stp, Lehighton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $18,233.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010810202 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Bowmanstown Boro Stp, Bowmanstown
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $18,588.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010969210 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Panther Creek Energy Facility, Nesquehoning
Major air pollution source. Penalties $80,050.
EPA FRS registry ID 110030471610 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3

Correctional facilities

Prisons, jails and corrections operations with an EPA facility record, and the drinking water and wastewater compliance attached to them.

Carbon County Correctional Fac, Nesquehoning
EPA FRS registry ID
110010713683
Water system
PA3130049
Health-based violations
4 all time, 1 in 5 years
All violations
58
Contaminants cited
Groundwater Rule, Lead and Copper Rule
Wastewater permit
None on record
EPA detailed facility report

Discovery / public records

Records to request for Carbon County

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