Poe Hall, the education and psychology building at NC State, was found to be contaminated with cancer-causing PCBs.
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.
