'A culture of bad things handled in bad ways': NC State employees question Poe Hall handling
Three current or former NC State employees spoke with WRAL News about their time at Poe Hall.
They claim their concerns about the safety of the building went unanswered by university officials for decades. The group spent a collective 32 years at the NC State College of Education building.
Each person spoke to WRAL News under the condition of strict anonymity out of fear of retaliation from the university. NC State University announced that the building will close after testing found the presence of harmful and cancer-causing environmental contaminants known as PCBs inside the seven-story concrete building.
PCBs are chemicals found in materials like caulk and fluorescent lights.
The first source told WRAL News that they worked at Poe Hall for more than a decade. Around 2015, they say a black liquid seeped onto their desk.
"Black liquid started dripping onto my desk. The university told me it was water, but I've seen water leaks before, and the water may not be the cleanest, but it's not black. This wasn't just a little bit dirty. This was black."
The next source told WRAL News they often saw black particles in the air.
"There were black particles spewing out, and every day I would come in, and others would come into their office, and it was everywhere."
They say this was around 2010, and the problem never got much better; at one point, they claim workers put cheesecloths over vents to catch the black particles.
"I would change the cheesecloth out like every 60 days, and it was all black. Both sources tell WRAL News they reported the incidents to the university.
"We asked questions to the person in charge of the building, and we were told there was nothing to worry about."
The second source WRAL News spoke to said they developed an autoimmune disease while working inside Poe Hall.
"I can't say if my autoimmune is from that or from the stress of working there."
The other source said their colleagues had cancer, and one of them died.
"He was an assistant dean. He had a really bad cough, and it turned out that he had cancer and didn't survive."
A third source who currently works at Poe Hall said multiple students have reported feeling sick this semester.
"I have heard reports from other students experiencing headaches in the last few weeks, more than they normally would. As well as a few people saying they've had rashes."
All three sources are calling on the university for more guidance and transparency.
"Is this going to be the thing that finally changes that culture? I hope so. If not, what will be the next thing?"
We asked NC State to respond to each allegation and will update this story when it responds.
WRAL News has learned of at least four people who regularly work in Poe Hall have been diagnosed with cancer.
Mary Haskett has had an office in Poe Hall for more than three decades.
"It’s just a creepy old building with bad air circulation," Haskett said.
Haskett said she wasn't surprised at the news.
EPA monitoring four other sites statewide, database shows
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is monitoring at least four other locations across the state for PCB exposure, according to its website. It includes:
- One in Durham,
- One in Smithfield
- One in Garner
- and one in Gastonia
Dr. David Carpenter with SUNY Albany says it’s fair to assume any building from the 1970s has PCBs and that everyone has had some exposure.
"You don't have an unexposed population here," Carpenter said. "So, you're only comparing people with a higher exposure to people with lower exposure."
Faculty and staff members told us they’re receiving little guidance from the university regarding removing their belongings from the building. Carpenter recommends wiping down anything with an oil-based cloth like polyester or nylon to remove contaminants.
WRAL investigative data reporter Ali Ingersoll contributed to this report.
