Congresswoman Deborah Ross seeks action on federal cuts that halted probe at NC State's Poe Hall
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Congresswoman Deborah Ross is seeking action from the United States Department of Health and Human Services over staffing cuts. Former NC State chancellor Dr. Randy Woodson cites the cuts as a reason behind a pause in federal evaluation at Poe Hall.
At the Raleigh campus, graduation was earlier this month, but that building remains closed.
It's been shuttered since November 2023, when the presence of PCBs was discovered inside. Those chemicals have been linked to an increased risk of diseases, including cancer.
People are concerned, and they want to get to the bottom of it. And they want to do it in an unbiased way.- Congresswoman Deborah Ross
Twice last year - in February and June - the university released test results, finding that the level of PCBs was within EPA thresholds. It requested a Health Hazard Evaluation to be conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH); work that's been halted.
Ross said that an estimated 850 of the 1,000 employees at NIOSH have been fired.
In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Ross wrote that those reductions would have "profound negative impacts and is already leaving thousands of individuals affected by the Poe Hall contamination with no answers and nowhere to turn."
"People are concerned, and they want to get to the bottom of it. And they want to do it in an unbiased way," said Ross, a Democrat who represents District 2. "There are lawsuits. There are all sorts of things going on. But this was a source of information that didn't have any constituency. It was about getting to the truth."
The school has previously said it is working on remediation and reconstruction of the building and pledged to share new information as it becomes available.
ABC11 has reached out to the Department of Health and Human Services to learn more about those staffing levels, whether any evaluations have been completed, and if so, whether that has been released to the school and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
"Secretary Kennedy has been working hard to ensure that the critical functions under NIOSH remain intact," an HHS spokesperson told ABC11. "The Trump Administration is committed to supporting coal miners and firefighters, and under the Secretary's leadership, NIOSH's essential services will continue as HHS streamlines its operations. Ensuring the health and safety of our workforce remains a top priority for the Department."
NC State has set up a web page that posts updates about Poe Hall.
