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Kaufman County, Texas: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Kaufman County is 177.1 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Bladder deaths at 1.7 times the U.S. rate and Lung & bronchus deaths at 1.4 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 776 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (533), Gas station (mapped facility) (58), Rail grade crossing (40). 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: 32.5949, -96.2991.

How this county ranks in Texas

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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 Kaufman County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Bladder	Deaths	6.8	4.1	1.66xSignificant	4.8 to 9.3	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	42.7	30.2	1.41xSignificant	37.8 to 48	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	Deaths	4.7	3.4	1.38x	3.2 to 6.6	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	New cases	12	8.7	1.38xSignificant	9.6 to 14.8	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	6.6	4.8	1.38x	4.7 to 9	2020-2024
Brain & nervous system	Deaths	5.9	4.4	1.34x	4.2 to 8	2020-2024
Leukemia	New cases	19.3	14.5	1.33xSignificant	16.2 to 22.8	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	23.7	17.9	1.32xSignificant	20.3 to 27.5	2019-2023
Stomach	Deaths	3.5	2.7	1.3x	2.3 to 5.2	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	8.2	6.6	1.24x	6.3 to 10.5	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	177.1	143.2	1.24xSignificant	167 to 187.5	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	Deaths	2.4	2	1.2x	1.4 to 3.8	2020-2024
Esophagus	New cases	5.2	4.6	1.13x	3.6 to 7.2	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	58.5	51.8	1.13xSignificant	52.8 to 64.6	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	20.3	18.7	1.09x	16.9 to 24.1	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	19.9	18.5	1.08x	16.7 to 23.5	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	New cases	6.6	6.2	1.06x	4.8 to 8.9	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	481.3	453.4	1.06xSignificant	465.1 to 497.9	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	14.5	13.9	1.04x	11.8 to 17.7	2019-2023
Esophagus	Deaths	3.7	3.7	1x	2.4 to 5.5	2020-2024
Stomach	New cases	6.4	6.6	0.97x	4.7 to 8.5	2019-2023
Leukemia	Deaths	5.5	5.7	0.96x	3.8 to 7.6	2020-2024
Childhood cancer (under 15)	New cases	15.7	16.4	0.96x	10.6 to 22.4	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	11.4	13	0.88x	9.1 to 14	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	9.4	11.3	0.83x	7.2 to 12	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	15.8	23.8	0.66x	13 to 19	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 Kaufman County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	8,808.6	9,842.6	-11%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	74.7	75.3	-1%	years
Child mortality	67.2	59.8	+13%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	5.2	6.2	-16%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	72.1	96.9	-26%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	12.5	28.6	-56%	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.

Formaldehyde21.66 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.89 per million
Acetaldehyde1.76 per million
Ethylene Oxide1.35 per million

EPA Air Quality Index 2025

Monitored on 365 days: 241 good, 2 unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse. Median AQI 44, peak 126.

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit533
Gas station (mapped facility)58
Rail grade crossing40
Air permit holder (minor source)28
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)24
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)18
Small hazardous waste generator17
TRI reporting facility16
Hazardous waste transporter11
Major air pollution source6
Public airport6
Large hazardous waste generator5
Dry cleaner (mapped facility)4
EPA air quality monitor2
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)2
Commercial airport1
Large greenhouse gas emitter1
Heliport1
Gas power plant1
Scrapyard (mapped facility)1
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.

Van der Horst USA Corporation, Terrell
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 48. NPL Site.
EPA site ID TXD007357932 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Oldcastle Building Envelope - Texas Facility, Terrell
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Certain glycol ethers, Toluene, Xylene (mixed isomers), Dimethyl phthalate and 3 more. Reports carcinogens. 11,690 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 75160VSTWL803AI (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.6
Conecsus Llc, Terrell
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead And Lead Compounds, Lead compounds, Antimony And Antimony Compounds, Arsenic And Arsenic Compounds and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 1,834 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 75160TJSRS105TE (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7
Mica Steelworks-Kaufman, Kaufman
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Manganese, Zinc compounds, Lead. Reports carcinogens. 774 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 75142FLCNS12RAN (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.7
Terrell Hot Mix Asphalt Plant, Terrell
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Polycyclic aromatic compounds. Reports carcinogens. 643 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 7516WTRRLL32IRN (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.7
Smurfit Kappa N.A. - Forney Mill, Forney
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia, Hydrogen sulfide, Lead compounds, Mercury compounds. 31,855 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 7512WRNGCN855EU (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.5
Fxi Inc. - Terrell, Terrell
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Toluene diisocyanate (mixed isomers). Reports carcinogens. 320 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 75160FLXBL501IN (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.4
Ecs Refining, Terrell
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110034662336 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.3
City Of Kaufman Wwtp, Kaufman
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $39,600.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009777349 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.3
Nucor Building Systems-Texas, Terrell
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Manganese, Lead, Nickel. Reports carcinogens. 104 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 75160NCRBL600AP (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.1
Vistawall, Terrell
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000457023 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.9
Corrugated Services Inc, Forney
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110002469999 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.8
City Of Kemp Wwtp, Kemp
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $30,875.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009781307 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Veka South, Terrell
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110035127564 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Veka South, Terrell
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Chromium compounds (except for chromite ore mined in the Transvaal Region), Antimony compounds, Manganese compounds, Antimony And Antimony Compounds and 2 more. 1,620 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 75160VKSTH17MET (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.5
Carlisle Coatings & Waterproofing, Terrell
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Polycyclic aromatic compounds. Reports carcinogens. 10 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 7516WCRLSL5APAC (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.3
Pappys Sand & Gravel, Scurry
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $875.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071346830 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Kaufman, Kaufman
EPA air quality monitor.
Record ID 482570005 (U.S. EPA AirData)
Severity 5.2
Mica Steelworks Kaufman, Kaufman
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000822352 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.2
Terrell Hot Mix Asphalt Plant, Terrell
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071650224 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.1
Hunter Panels Llc, Terrell
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110023013594 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5
Redi-Mix - Forney, Forney
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead, Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution). Reports carcinogens. 3 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 7512WFRNYP698EU (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.9
Innocor Terrell Facility, Terrell
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000456970 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.9
Forney Energy Center, Forney
Gas power plant.
Record ID 55480 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 4.8
Terrell Plant, Terrell
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead And Lead Compounds, Lead. Reports carcinogens. 1 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 7516WTRRLL13MET (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.7

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 Kaufman County

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