Our Progress

• An employee reached out to leadership in the College of Education requesting more information on previous environmental studies of Poe Hall. College leadership connected with NC State Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) regarding an environmental assessment.
• The Occupational Safety and Health Division of the North Carolina Department of Labor (NC DOL) notified NC State that it had received a complaint concerning alleged health and/or safety hazards related to Poe Hall. The complaint asserted that employees had not been informed about the presence, location, and quantity of asbestos-containing materials and that there were concerns that employees may have been exposed to other hazardous substances due the building’s age and ongoing renovation projects.

• EHS conducted limited bulk sampling in the building. The samples detected levels of Aroclor 1262, a commercial mixture of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) compounds, which warranted further investigation. 
• Additional samples (including a surface sample) were collected to validate initial results.
• EHS consulted the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (N.C. DHHS) for guidance. 
• EHS contacted the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to request a Health Hazard Evaluation.

• EHS collected new surface samples, air and additional bulk samples in the building. The air samples could not be analyzed for Aroclor 1262, the specific compound first detected in October. 
• The presence of PCBs was preliminarily confirmed and shared with university leadership. University leaders promptly decided to proactively close the building to better understand what potential issues exist.
• Poe Hall closed at 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 17, 2023, and occupants were given until Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023, to enter and collect any belongings needed to finish the semester.

• NC State partnered with Geosyntec Consultants, a consulting firm with expertise in environmental building assessment in the public and private sectors, to conduct further testing and provide recommendations and guidance, in consultation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency  (EPA), to NC State on appropriate next steps.
• To prepare for the spring semester, countless teams across the university worked together to relocate more than 230 classes for more than 4,000 students — and to provide convenient spaces to work and teach for the more than 400 faculty, staff and graduate students who previously occupied the building.
• NC State responded to supplemental requests for information from NC DOL.

• NC State retrieved items from the building with guidance from Geosyntec on safe removal and delivery of items to new working locations. 
• Given the ongoing status of the building investigation, NIOSH decided to close the evaluation first opened in the fall. It’s the university’s understanding that the same decision was applied to all open NIOSH evaluations concerning Poe Hall. 
• The university responded to supplemental requests for information from the NC DOL.

• NC State’s environmental consultant, Geosyntec Consultants, delivered its initial phase testing report to university leadership, containing the results of surface and air sampling with the HVAC system turned off.  The report was provided to the EPA. Learn about the findings here.
• NC State formally requested NIOSH open a new Health Hazard Evaluation on Feb. 12, 2024. NIOSH confirmed the request has been processed and began working with NC State to determine next steps.
• NC State responded to additional requests for information from NC DOL.

• On Mar. 25, 2024, NC State hosted an informational webinar for the faculty, staff and students in the College of Education and Department of Psychology. The webinar provided additional context and information around public health, the roles various agencies play in understanding potential connections among cancer diagnoses and more about the university’s progress in the evaluation of Poe Hall. Watch the webinar here.

• Geosyntec collected samples from building materials on the heating, air and ventilation system.
• The heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system in Poe Hall was turned on for the first time since it was turned off in November of 2023.
• Geosyntec collected air samples throughout the building while the HVAC system was operational.

On Jun. 3, 2024, university leadership received the second testing report from environmental consultants, Geosyntec, and promptly shared it with the NC State community. The report contains the results of building materials sampling and air sampling with the HVAC system turned on. The report was also provided to the EPA, NIOSH, NC DOL and N.C. DHHS.

Learn about the findings and next steps here.