Salisbury residents concerned about health risks from air and water contamination are joining forces with a regional environmental group.

They want groundwater and air in the area along Jake Alexander Boulevard cleaned up, even it includes forcing asphalt plants to close.

Dr. Rick Weisler, who grew up on West Colonial Drive in Milford Hills, led the meeting as his terminally ill mother, Rita, listened from a wheel chair.

Concern over the contamination started inJuly, when Weisler, now a Raleigh psychiatrist, was visiting his mother. She talked about her cancer, and the many other cases in the neighborhood.

They quickly discovered that the Department of Transportation had paid to switch one neighbor to city water in 1992 after a test found high levels of a chemical solvent linked to cancer.

That spurred Dr. Weisler to undertake months of research and spread the word about soil, water and air pollution.

Weisler has found 62 cancer cases involving people who currently or previously lived in the area. A state official said Thursday night that 32 of those cases have been confirmed.

Residents of Milford Hills agreedThursday night to form a community action group as part of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League. The Glendale Springs organization has led successful fights across the state to close incinerators, waste dumps and curtail other pollution operations.

Janet Zeller, director of the environmental action group, said it may take years, but Milford Hills and surrounding neighborhoods can reclaim their environment with clean air and water.

Goals set by the group include: a cleanup of ground-water contamination and prevention of further contamination; and securing clean air.

Residents vowed to raise money and to form a “sniffer brigade” to take air samples around Associated Asphalt and the adjacent APAC facility.

Weisler and others mentioned Exxon, Chevron and Ashland Oil Co. as targets, along with the DOT.

Part of the effort will include a pro-active campaign to get the Salisbury City Council, county commissioners, legislators and other agencies to help bring about the cleanup and/or close down the plants.

A Salisbury official gave the city’s blessing to the effort, and a Raleigh environmental lawyer said the Salisbury effort will have far reaching effects across the state, where 71 other Department of Transportation asphalt testing labs polluted groundwater over decades.

Assistant City Manager Foster Owen said the city was ignorant about the contamination and pledged that the City Council is willing to work with residents.

He went on to encourage the residents to join the Blue Ridge Defense League and let it take the lead.

“There are legal remedies to what is going on,” said Tom Barefoot, an environmental lawyer who has been working with Weisler.

Barefoot said residents should be aware that the Department of Transportation is the most powerful political organization in the state. He went on to suggest that while the Department of Environment and Natural Resources may be trying to assist with the evaluation of contamination, it is a less powerful organization.”

“Somebody has dropped the ball big time, here and across the state,” said Barefoot.

Without a group effort, Barefoot said, nothing will happen. He went on to point out that Chevron had contaminated ground water at the Salisbury plant in 1983 and nothing has been done in 17 years.

The group will meet again next Thursday at 7 p.m. at Milford Hills United Methodist Church to continue the organization effort, electing officers, picking a name and launching the campaign.

Many of the participants said they expect more people to be at the next meeting. They said conflicts with other events had kept many away.

The preliminary organization session came as the second part of the overall meeting.

Around 75 attended the first part, including a cadre of state officials from various agencies as well as county and city officials.

At the end of a nearly 90-minute discussion, a residents-only meeting focused on how to get started. Rep. Charlotte Gardner and County Commission Chairman Newton Cohen, former residents of Milford Hills, attended.

Blue Ridge officials discussed many of their efforts across the state in cleaning up toxic dumps or preventing facilities from locating.

The organization has 53 chapters or affiliated organizations across the state and into South Carolina and Virginia. Among those is the Rowan-Iredell Citizens for a Clean Environment, which successfully halted a hazardous waste incinerator on the county line.