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Lawrence County, Pennsylvania: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Lawrence County is 157.7 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Bladder deaths at 1.5 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 634 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (319), Air permit holder (minor source) (80), Small hazardous waste generator (56). 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: 40.9907, -80.3425.

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 Lawrence County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Bladder	Deaths	6.3	4.1	1.54xSignificant	4.6 to 8.6	2020-2024
Brain & nervous system	New cases	8.8	6.2	1.42x	6.2 to 12.1	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	17.7	13	1.36xSignificant	13.9 to 22.3	2019-2023
Esophagus	Deaths	5	3.7	1.35x	3.4 to 7.2	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	Deaths	2.7	2	1.35x	1.6 to 4.3	2020-2024
Bladder	New cases	25.2	18.7	1.35xSignificant	21.5 to 29.5	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	Deaths	5.7	4.4	1.3x	3.8 to 8.2	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	7.7	6.6	1.17x	5.6 to 10.3	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	5.6	4.8	1.17x	4 to 7.8	2020-2024
Leukemia	New cases	16.8	14.5	1.16x	13.5 to 20.7	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	57.6	51.8	1.11xSignificant	52 to 63.7	2019-2023
Esophagus	New cases	5.1	4.6	1.11x	3.5 to 7.2	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	33.4	30.2	1.11x	29.3 to 38.1	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	157.7	143.2	1.1xSignificant	148.3 to 167.6	2020-2024
Pancreas	Deaths	12.2	11.3	1.08x	9.6 to 15.2	2020-2024
Leukemia	Deaths	6.1	5.7	1.07x	4.3 to 8.3	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	18.8	18.5	1.02x	15.3 to 22.9	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	456.1	453.4	1.01x	438.7 to 474.1	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	13.4	13.9	0.96x	10.8 to 16.7	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	New cases	8	8.7	0.92x	6 to 10.7	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	15.6	17.9	0.87x	12.5 to 19.2	2019-2023
Stomach	New cases	5.5	6.6	0.83x	3.9 to 7.7	2019-2023
Stomach	Deaths	2.2	2.7	0.81x	1.3 to 3.7	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	19	23.8	0.8x	15.5 to 23.2	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 Lawrence County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	11,918.9	9,842.6	+21%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	73.7	75.3	-2%	years
Child mortality	62.1	59.8	+4%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	6.7	6.2	+8%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	130.6	96.9	+35%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	73.6	28.6	+157%	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.

Formaldehyde16.23 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.92 per million
Benzene2.14 per million
Acetaldehyde1.73 per million

EPA Air Quality Index 2024

Monitored on 31 days: 31 good, 0 unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse. Median AQI 24, peak 31.

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit319
Air permit holder (minor source)80
Small hazardous waste generator56
Rail grade crossing42
Gas station (mapped facility)28
Brownfield property20
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)18
TRI reporting facility15
Large hazardous waste generator10
Hazardous waste transporter9
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)8
Large greenhouse gas emitter6
Major air pollution source5
Public airport5
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)4
EPA air quality monitor2
Gas power plant2
Scrapyard (mapped facility)2
Commercial airport1
Heliport1
Landfill (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.

Amg Titanium Llc, New Castle
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Vanadium compounds, Aluminum (fume or dust), Molybdenum trioxide, Chromium. Reports carcinogens. 34,296 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 1610WNTRNT599NR (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8
Ellwood Quality Steels Co, New Castle
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Zinc (fume or dust), Manganese And Manganese Compounds, Chromium and Chromium Compounds(except for chromite ore mined in the Transvaal Region), Manganese compounds and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 31,436 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 16101LLWDD700MO (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8
Young Galvanizing Inc, Pulaski
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Zinc compounds, Sulfuric acid (acid aerosols including mists, vapors, gas, fog, and other airborne forms of any particle size), Lead, Ammonia. Reports carcinogens. 25,891 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 16143YNGGLPOBOX (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.9
Amg Titanium Llc, New Castle
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Copper, Nickel, Manganese, Chromium. Reports carcinogens. 12,703 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 1610WNTRNT27FRE (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.6
International Metals Reclamation Co Llc Inmetco, Ellwood City
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Zinc compounds, Chromium compounds (except for chromite ore mined in the Transvaal Region), Manganese compounds, Lead compounds and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 8,679 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 16117NTRNTSR488 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.5
Tms International Llc/New Castle Plt, New Castle
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Chromium compounds (except for chromite ore mined in the Transvaal Region), Nickel compounds, Chromium and Chromium Compounds(except for chromite ore mined in the Transvaal Region), Nickel And Nickel Compounds and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 5,632 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 1610WTMSNT28RUN (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.4
Dairy Farmers Of America Inc, New Wilmington
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Nitric acid. 505,727 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 16142DRYFRRR1BO (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.4
Inmetco, Ellwood City
Major air pollution source. Penalties $20,800.
EPA FRS registry ID 110041695546 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.3
Dairy Farmers Of Amer, New Wilmington
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010979753 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
Inmetco, Ellwood City
Large hazardous waste generator. Penalties $20,800.
EPA FRS registry ID 110041695546 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.8
Inmetco, Ellwood City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $20,800.
EPA FRS registry ID 110041695546 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.8
Linde Advanced Material Technologies Inc., New Castle
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Propylene, Nickel. Reports carcinogens. 477 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 16105NNCRBRD3WI (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.6
Flowline Div Ezeflow Usa/New Castle, New Castle
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $10,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000330972 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.5
Inmetco, Ellwood City
Large greenhouse gas emitter. Penalties $20,800.
EPA FRS registry ID 110041695546 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.3
Ellwood Quality Steels Co, New Castle
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000330927 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.2
Ellwood Remelt Steel, New Castle
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Chromium and Chromium Compounds(except for chromite ore mined in the Transvaal Region), Nickel And Nickel Compounds, Lead And Lead Compounds. Reports carcinogens. 93 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 1610WLLWDR4FURN (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6
Young Galvanizing, Pulaski
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110042074634 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.9
Tms International Llc/New Castle Plant, New Castle
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064205293 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.9
Kennametal Isa, New Castle
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110042000170 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.8
Amg Titanium Llc, New Castle
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110028279164 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.7
Flowline Div Ezeflow Usa/New Castle, New Castle
Large hazardous waste generator. Penalties $10,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000330972 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
New Castle Wastewater Treatment Plant, New Castle
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000561160 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Hickory Run Energy Llc/North Beaver Twp, New Castle
Major air pollution source. Penalties $37,383.
EPA FRS registry ID 110060012258 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Snpj Recreation Ctr, Enon Valley
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $3,100.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000959400 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5
North American Forgemasters, New Castle
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nickel, Chromium, Copper, Manganese and 2 more. Reports carcinogens. 2 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 16101NRTHM710MO (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.8

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 Lawrence 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 Lawrence 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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