Tests of 12 wells near asphalt plants on Jake Alexander Boulevard has found water unsafe to drink in one well.

State officials performed the tests after residents or their relatives raised concerns about a former asphalt testing lab operated by the Department of Transportation and resulting groundwater contamination in and near the Milford Hills subdivision.

Dr. Rick Weisler, whose mother lives in the subdivision and is dying of cancer, has called for extensive testing of air and water in the area surrounding the former lab, asphalt plants and petroleum tank farm. He has amassed a list of more than 40 cancer cases among residents of the area.

Although the state knew of the contamination of areas surrounding the plant as early as 1989, officials developed a plan to deal with it within the past few weeks.

Rowan County Health Director Leonard Wood released the results of test late Thursday, after health officials had talked with the property owners at the test sites.

Tests found tetrachloroethene, a solvent used to clean machinery and clothing, in the well used by Jim and Polly Edens at 303 W. Colonial Drive.

Testing by state laboratories found 3.1 parts per billion of the chemical known as PCE. That is more than four times the acceptable standard of .7 parts per billion.

Environmental Health Supervisor Lynn Aldridge met with the Edens family and conveyed the state recommendation that the water should not be used for drinking or cooking, and that they should avoid prolonged bathing or showering.

Wood said water is available from the city of Salisbury, and health officials recommended that the Edens immediately stop using the well.

Jim and Polly Edens are the only residents in Milford Hills still using their well.

Polly Edens said this morning that they will connect with the city, but “we’re going to continue using (the well) until we get city water. You’ve got to drink water.”

And they don’t know how long it will take to make the change.

But they’re neither surprised nor worried.

“We’re not sick,” she said. “Nobody’s been sick. But our well is about shot. Our pump has been repaired and repaired, and it’s not going to last forever, and we’re going to go to city water while they’re having a ‘sale.’ I always go to sales ....”

Their well is 46 years old, and they have continued to use it because they like the taste of well water, she says, “and we like the price of well water also. But they’re having a special. Lynn Aldridge recommended that we do it, and we’re going to be in touch with him today.”

Aldridge gave them the report Thursday and explained its implications.

“It’s several pages long,” Jim Edens says, and raised questions about one chemical.

So, his wife says, after all the issues that have been raised in the area, they don’t want to take any issue with the report.

Health officials are hopeful of getting state funds to pay the cost of hooking up the Edens to city water. Aldridge said he is trying to help the Edens make the switch to city water.

“This is very, very ominous,” said Weisler, who has led the campaign for a state and federal investigation.

Weisler, a Raleigh psychiatrist, is in Salisbury today to be with his mother whose condition is rapidly deteriorating.

Weisler disputed the state contention that the Department of Transportation never used tetrachloroethene. “They have no records. They have zero records of solvents they used. It could very easily have been used by DOT or its contractors.”

He is not surprised that chemical solvents weren’t found in more wells.

“It’s like a crime scene they waited 20 to 40 years to tell people about,” said Weisler. “They’re trying to find fingerprints now. The state should have been more forthcoming in letting people know about the danger. They clearly knew in 1989.”

Weisler referred to a Department of Transportation statewide assessment of about 200 state testing laboratories. Officials decided to conduct extensive testing at 72 of those sites. The Jake Alexander site is ranked 15th on the priority scale for cleanup.

The recently released clean-up plan depends heavily on natural attenuation — in other words, rainwater flushing the area and diluting the contamination.

“It (tetrachloroethene) was used by somebody up there, not the residents in the neighborhood,” said Weisler. The area has had several companies using petroleum products during the past 40 or more years. Among the companies were Rea Construction which became PAPCO and is now APAC; Chevron, now Associated Asphalt, which is owned by Inman Asphalt, a division of Ashland Oil. Exxon also operated a large tank farm on Jake Alexander for many years.

Although most of the well test results were complete last week, officials raised questions about two others and asked for additional checking.

Trace amounts of arsenic were found in two of the 12 wells. Both wells had one part per billion, well below the standard of 50 parts per billion. Arsenic is a naturally occurring substance and presents no threat to health in that quantity, Wood said.

No additional well testing is planned at this point. He said they have checked all wells in use around the asphalt businesses.

Wood said the Health Department has made every effort to deal with the health risk issue from drinking water today. He added that there is no way to determine what may have been in wells 10 or 20 years ago.

“Just because it is not there now, doesn’t mean it wasn’t there years ago,” said Wood. “We have to be concerned about now.”

On Monday, county health officials plan to renew efforts to get extensive air quality testing in the area of the asphalt plants, to resolve residents’ worries.

Wood is also continuing discussion with various state agencies and the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a division of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control.

The Health Department and various state agencies have asked for a health assessment of the area, including a look at a possible cancer cluster.