New round of testing on Poe Hall 'critical,' NC State Chancellor says

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- A new round of testing will soon be taking place at Poe Hall on NC State's campus.

The work will start in March and comes after toxic chemicals were found in November 2023. Subsequent testing and reactions from students and staff caused the university to announce the building would remain closed throughout the year.

NC State Chancellor Dr. Randy Woodson spoke for the first time to ABC11 about what could happen after a new round of testing at Poe Hall.

"The most critical thing for us with Poe Hall right now is to understand the environment," said Woodson. "That's why it was so important for us to vacate the building so all that could be done again out of an abundance of caution for the people that that worked in that building."

Initial testing happened when the HVAC in the building was not operating. That testing found the presence of PCB chemicals, which are chemicals that have been linked to increased risk of diseases such as cancer. It's important to point out that the first round of testing found PCBs in a lower quantity than the EPA warning level.

"We've done one round of testing. Now we'll do another round of testing, and that'll lead increasingly toward identifying the source of the PCBs that are contaminating the building," Woodson said.

There's been concern among some staff, who spent years working inside the building.

Earlier this month, Attorney Ben Whitley said possible litigation will depend on further investigation.

"We represent some women with breast cancer, who had not had any family history of breast cancer, who were very young to have that diagnosis. and the commonality was the fact that they had spent years in Poe Hall," said Whitley.

NC State is now working with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Woodson said testing would be finished this year. ABC11 asked if Poe Hall would be closed into 2025.

"The only reason that it would continue beyond 2025 is because of the mitigation that's needed. That is the construction (or) the renovation required," said Woodson. "Testing will not go into that period. The testing will be done probably within the next few months. But then that will lead to the decisions that have to be made about the renovation of the building, the retrofitting of the building, any mitigation strategies to ensure that the environment is safe going forward."

Throughout the process, the university plans on sharing sample results and any other additional information to be transparent.