BY JESSIE BURCHETTE
SALISBURY POST

A federal agency may conduct an investigation into the health problems surrounding a former asphalt testing laboratory on Jake Alexander Boulevard.

The N.C. Department of Transportation has completed a plan to clean or remove groundwater contamination as other agencies try to determine if there is a link to a high incidence of cancer in the adjacent Milford Hills neighborhood.

For nearly 30 years chlorinated solvents were used at the Rea Construction asphalt paving plant by the state and others in testing asphalt and in cleaning equipment. The usage stopped in the early 1980s when federal agencies determined the chemicals caused cancer.

Dr. Rick Weisler, a Raleigh psychiatrist who first raised questions about contamination and cancer, said Saturday that he feels “very positive” about the rapid movement by the state and federal agencies.

County Health Director Leonard Wood and state officials requested the federal investigation on Friday.

Weisler said he was told late Friday by an official with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) that they had agreed to conduct an investigation of health problems in the area. The official told Weisler that the study could take 18 months or more.

The agency is a branch of the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

Weisler said that the number of cancer incidents connected with the area has risen to 20. Initially he found nine cases among 14 adjacent homes. His initial concern was spurred by his mother’s illness. During a visit to his mother, Rita Weisler, 234 W. Colonial Drive, in June, he discovered that several other neighbors or family members had cancer or had died of cancer.

During his talks with neighbors, he discovered the Department of Transportation had paid to have a neighbor switched to city water after a well had become contaminated in the early 1990s.

Weisler talked with a DOT official on Friday. Weisler said Chris Niver assured him that a comprehensive remediation plan is complete and will be distributed to concerned parties early next week.

Weisler, who was in Salisbury Friday, shared the news of federal and state action with neighbors.

“We feel very positive about the federal agency getting involved and about the state being more active,” said Weisler. He also praised County Health Director Wood for doing an “incredible job.”

An environmental services company completed a detailed plan late in the week for the remediation or cleaning of the Jake Alexander site.

Niver, with the DOT’s Safety and Loss Control section, said the plan calls for installation of additional wells to better understand and monitor the site.

The plan includes cleaning up and removing the bulk of contaminated groundwater.

Niver said the exact approach will be determined by the site. It could involve massive pumping or introduction of some material that through chemical reaction will neutralize the contaminants. In some instances, substances such as molasses are used to neutralize contaminants.

Additional well testing in the area is also a component of the plan. Niver said the DOT has moved quickly to deal with the issue and the concerns of residents near the site.

While the DOT is taking a lead role, it doesn’t expect to pay the full cost of cleaning the site.

The DOT test labs were operated on the asphalt company sites, only when asphalt was being prepared for state roads.

Niver said earlier in the week that the state’s role in the overall contamination from asphalt plants is minimal.

On Friday, Niver said the issue of cost and who pays may be decided in court.

The asphalt plant opened by Rea Construction in 1965 along U.S. 601 Bypass (now Jake Alexander Boulevard) was later sold to PAPCO. It is now owned by APAC, and is adjacent to Associated Asphalt, a company that deals in liquid asphalt.

County health officials will begin testing active wells within a half-mile radius of the asphalt plant Monday.

The county health director has spent the last week working to deal with the health concerns of a possible cancer cluster. He has spent long hours on the phone with various state agencies as well as local agencies and local residents.

Wood spoke briefly at a state meeting of public health directors on Thursday in Raleigh. He distributed copies of the 72 sites the state tested and targeted for cleanup.