PA / county FIPS 42095 / county research

Northampton County, Pennsylvania: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Northampton County is 143 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. The strongest disease signals are Pancreas deaths at 1.2 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 1,454 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (581), Air permit holder (minor source) (147), Rail grade crossing (135). 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: 40.7529, -75.3989.

How this county ranks in Pennsylvania

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 Northampton County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Thyroid	New cases	19.6	13	1.51xSignificant	17.4 to 21.9	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	24.8	18.7	1.33xSignificant	22.8 to 27	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	Deaths	2.5	2	1.25x	1.8 to 3.2	2020-2024
Pancreas	New cases	17.3	13.9	1.24xSignificant	15.6 to 19.2	2019-2023
Bladder	Deaths	5	4.1	1.22x	4.1 to 6	2020-2024
Esophagus	New cases	5.4	4.6	1.17x	4.5 to 6.4	2019-2023
Stomach	New cases	7.7	6.6	1.17x	6.5 to 9	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	13.1	11.3	1.16xSignificant	11.7 to 14.7	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	New cases	9.7	8.7	1.11x	8.5 to 11.2	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	504.8	453.4	1.11xSignificant	495.1 to 514.7	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	20.4	18.5	1.1x	18.5 to 22.5	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	7.1	6.6	1.08x	6.1 to 8.3	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	55.2	51.8	1.07xSignificant	52.2 to 58.4	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	5.1	4.8	1.06x	4.2 to 6.1	2020-2024
Childhood cancer (under 15)	New cases	17.3	16.4	1.05x	12.4 to 23.4	2019-2023
Esophagus	Deaths	3.9	3.7	1.05x	3.1 to 4.8	2020-2024
Leukemia	New cases	15.2	14.5	1.05x	13.5 to 17.1	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	18.4	17.9	1.03x	16.5 to 20.4	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	New cases	6.3	6.2	1.02x	5.2 to 7.7	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	24.1	23.8	1.01x	21.9 to 26.4	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	Deaths	4.4	4.4	1x	3.6 to 5.4	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	Deaths	3.4	3.4	1x	2.7 to 4.2	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	143	143.2	1x	138.1 to 148	2020-2024
Leukemia	Deaths	5.6	5.7	0.98x	4.7 to 6.8	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	28.9	30.2	0.96x	26.8 to 31.2	2020-2024
Stomach	Deaths	2.4	2.7	0.89x	1.8 to 3.2	2020-2024

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 Northampton County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	6,471.4	9,842.6	-34%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	78.9	75.3	+5%	years
Child mortality	30	59.8	-50%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	4.4	6.2	-29%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	80.2	96.9	-17%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	34	28.6	+19%	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.

Formaldehyde18.74 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.97 per million
Benzene2.18 per million
Naphthalene2.09 per million

EPA Air Quality Index 2025

Monitored on 365 days: 263 good, 2 unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse. Median AQI 38, peak 122.

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

1,454 active records inside the county from EPA ECHO, TRI, Superfund, Brownfields, NPDES, EIA, FAA, FRA and corrections data.

NPDES wastewater discharge permit581
Air permit holder (minor source)147
Rail grade crossing135
Small hazardous waste generator130
Gas station (mapped facility)111
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)93
Brownfield property44
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)33
TRI reporting facility32
Large hazardous waste generator29
Hazardous waste transporter23
Major air pollution source18
Dry cleaner (mapped facility)16
Heliport11
Scrapyard (mapped facility)11
Large greenhouse gas emitter10
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)10
Public airport3
Landfill (mapped facility)3
Gas power plant3
Crematorium (mapped facility)2
Biomass power plant2
Solar power plant2
Superfund (NPL) site2
EPA air quality monitor1
Coal power plant1
Oil-fired 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.

Keystone Cement Co, Bath
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $198,465.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000584332 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 10
Hellertown Manufacturing Co., Hellertown
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 51.9. NPL Site.
EPA site ID PAD002390748 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Industrial Lane, Williams Township
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 42.5. NPL Site.
EPA site ID PAD980508493 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Hercules Cement Co Llc, Stockertown
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $379,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000335049 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 9.5
Heidelberg Materials Us Cement Llc/ Nazareth, Nazareth
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $216,875.
EPA FRS registry ID 110011748911 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 9.3
Essroc Cement Corp, Nazareth
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia, Chromium and Chromium Compounds(except for chromite ore mined in the Transvaal Region), Manganese And Manganese Compounds, Chromium compounds (except for chromite ore mined in the Transvaal Region) and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 635,624 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 18064CPLYCEASTO (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 9
Northampton Generating Plant, Northampton
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Hydrochloric acid (acid aerosols including mists, vapors, gas, fog, and other airborne forms of any particle size), Hydrogen fluoride, Ammonia, Copper compounds and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 496,336 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 18067NRTHM1HORW (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.9
Northampton Generating Plant, Northampton
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $64,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006623396 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 8.6
Keystone Cement Co, Bath
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Hydrochloric acid (acid aerosols including mists, vapors, gas, fog, and other airborne forms of any particle size), Ammonia, Formaldehyde, Dichloromethane and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 232,188 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 18014KYSTNRT329 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.6
Bethlehem Energy Center, Bethlehem
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia, Polycyclic aromatic compounds, n-Hexane, 1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene and 1 more. Reports carcinogens. 155,388 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 18015CNCTV2254A (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.5
Martins Creek Steam Electric Station, Bangor
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia, n-Hexane, Naphthalene, Polycyclic aromatic compounds and 1 more. Reports carcinogens. 138,930 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 18013MRTNS6605F (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.4
Buzzi Unicem Stockertown Plant, Stockertown
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia, Naphthalene, Aluminum (fume or dust), Chromium and Chromium Compounds(except for chromite ore mined in the Transvaal Region) and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 42,628 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 18083HRCLS501CE (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.1
Piramal Critical Care Inc/Hanover Twp, Bethlehem
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $116,062.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000334718 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.6
Keystone Cement Co, Bath
Major air pollution source. Penalties $198,465.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000584332 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.5
Lehigh Heavy Forge Corp, Bethlehem
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $9,867.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000334709 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.4
Hercules Cement Co Llc, Stockertown
Major air pollution source. Penalties $379,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000335049 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.3
Steel Management Systems Llc, Nazareth
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Xylene (mixed isomers). 225,718 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 1806WSTLMN345BA (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.1
Keystone Cement Co, Bath
Large hazardous waste generator. Penalties $198,465.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000584332 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
Keystone Cement Co, Bath
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $198,465.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000584332 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
Bethlehem Energy Center, Bethlehem
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110012565884 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.9
Victaulic Co - Forks Facility, Easton
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Aluminum (fume or dust), Copper compounds, Nickel compounds, Copper And Copper Compounds and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 1,486 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 18042VCTLC4901K (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.9
Martins Creek Steam Electric Station, Bangor
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000334656 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.9
American Nickeloid Co/Walnutport, Walnutport
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110037967929 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.8
Lehigh Heavy Forge Corp, Bethlehem
Major air pollution source. Penalties $9,867.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000334709 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.8
Hercules Cement Co Llc, Stockertown
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $379,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000335049 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.8

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 Northampton 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 Northampton 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.

Scan an address in Northampton County View on the heat map All Pennsylvania counties