Hope, to borrow from a popular axiom, is where the heart is. And Minister Robert Campbell has shown lots of heart as he has hoped against the odds that solutions would be forthcoming for the water, sewer and air quality problems that plague Chapel Hill's Rogers-Eubanks roads community.

Campbell, and a host of others who have toiled interminably for what they see as environmental justice for hosting the landfill in their neighborhood for decades, got some good news in recent days.

The minister is heading to a White House summit with Obama administration honchos including EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Friday, it was announced. While Washington wants to hear about the neighborhood's environmental cleanup projects and aspirations, Campbell hopes he can somehow parlay the meeting into federal stimulus funding to accomplish the major work needed to be done.

And on Monday, Chapel Hill Town Council took another step in the process of approving the Rogers Road Small Area Plan intended to guide growth and development in the area, including water and sewer infrastructure.

The sticking point, of course, is getting that $4 million or more to lay the lines. But the good news is that the groundwork that has been laid to stir action is getting attention, even at the highest levels of government.