Access Agreement Will Allow Independent Testing at Poe Hall

Poe Hall, the education and psychology building at NC State, was found to be contaminated with cancer-causing PCBs.After months of delay, an independent access agreement between North Carolina State University and law firms representing sick clients will allow independent testing to be conducted within Poe Hall to determine the levels and kinds of PCBs present in building materials that may have caused former workers and students to become ill.

The building has been closed since November 2023, when NC State first confirmed the presence of PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, highly toxic chemical compounds shown to cause cancer and other immune compromising illnesses. Since then, hundreds of former and current students, teachers, staff, and administrators who spent time in Poe Hall have reached out to lawyers and local news agencies across the city of Raleigh to share that they are sick, many with cancer.

Independent testing is slated to begin the week of July 29 and last for one week.

Dr. Darren Masier, an assistant professor of human resource management at Meredith College, worked as a graduate student at Poe Hall between 2009 and 2013. He was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in July 2023, almost a full year before the testing agreement was reached. Masier, through The Law Offices of F. Bryan Brice, Jr., filed a motion of discovery in February this year, seeking permission to perform independent testing of Poe Hall and the release of internal documents. While a judge initially passed the motion, an appeal filed by NC State stayed all action.

“The first thing my doctor asked me, ‘Have you been around any toxins?’ And I said, ‘Not that I know of,’” said Masier. “Now, if indeed the independent testers can nail down what these PCBs are, I can tell my doctor, and perhaps that can help me and other people with treatments, to know what exactly got in my system to cause my body to get leukemia.”

NC State has released reports issued by its environmental consultant Geosyntec, but Brice said those results have left him with lingering questions.

“We see things marked on Geosyntec’s testing that we believe needs to be done in order to get a more comprehensive picture of what the exposure issues may be for the people who spent time in Poe Hall, our clients and others,” said Brice.

NC State has instituted a non-disclosure agreement between the parties, which will keep the results of this testing under wraps, but concerned parties should be able to use this to help their doctors find treatments.

“If folks have been to Poe Hall, and they’re having adverse health conditions, they should talk to somebody about it,” said Brice. “Knowing exactly what was going on in that building can absolutely have an effect on early detection, to have that knowledge, so your medical providers can detect something that you might not have looked at otherwise. It could save your life.”

NC State issued a statement to Law 360, confirming the university is and will take action to protect themselves against litigation or intent to litigate, but they are cooperating with national and statewide agencies to get the most up to date information available out to the NC State community.

“Complying with discovery in litigation is one of many interests — including providing information to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and now, making plans for remediation — that the university continues to balance since voluntarily closing Poe Hall,” the statement read. “To this end, while the building remains closed to the public, the university has been in touch with law firms that previously reached out to explore a path forward to enter the building and conduct environmental testing (in accordance with all safety requirements) before remediation begins.”

Check out the upcoming Aug. 15 magazine issue of Diverse, where readers can learn more about the health crisis.