Sign and Share the Petition Today: bit.ly/NCSUPoe  

Hundreds of victims ignored by NC State

Under Chancellor Woodson’s administration, NC State has repeatedly demonstrated a lack of compassion, empathy, and transparency towards the hundreds of people who now have health complications and cancer due to the presence of PCBs in Poe Hall. The University has proved it will not address their health needs without public or legal pressure. NC State continues to indicate on its “Poe Hall Updates” page that individuals are expected to pay out of pocket for medical testing and treatments linked to Poe Hall and PCB exposure. NC State claims that they have turned over thirty years of records to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, an agency conducting a Health Hazard Evaluation on Poe Hall. Yet, alumni and current and former faculty who have been diagnosed with life-altering health complications after being in Poe say that they have not been contacted by either NC State or NIOSH in regards to their health. It is clear that Chancellor Woodson and the NC State Administration are more concerned with optics than with the health and well-being of their staff, students, and visitors. 

Poe Hall is just the beginning

The same report that identified PCBs in Poe back in 2018 also identified them in the caulking of D.H. Hill Jr. Library’s North Tower, which remains open to this day. NC State is quietly trying to deal with another on-campus environmental disaster in Dabney Hall. Environmental testing in the chemistry building revealed high levels of hazardous materials, including PCBs, asbestos, lead and mercury. The University plans to move forward with “occupied renovation” of Dabney, meaning that students, faculty, and staff will remain in the building as hazardous materials are stirred up during the removal process. There are at least 70 buildings on NC State’s campus that were constructed or renovated before the 1979 PCB ban, meaning that many of them might contain the same toxic building materials that caused illnesses for 500+ Poe Hall building users. Building users had been issuing complaints and asking for environmental testing in Poe Hall for decades before the University actually closed the building. We cannot wait for the Administration to act of their own volition. That’s why we are demanding immediate testing of all campus buildings, including dormitories.

What can you do?

NC State administration has demonstrated repeatedly that they will only deal with on-campus environmental harms when pressured by the media, teams of lawyers, and the campus community. We must remain steadfast in our efforts to keep each other safe on campus, and secure financial and medical assistance for the hundreds of people harmed by decades of exposure to toxic chemicals in Poe Hall. 

Sign on to our petition and share it widely with your networks of alumni, colleagues, families, and peers. Anyone who supports the effort to do right by the people in our Campus Community can sign the petition.  

Become a CCAEJ Member Get  involved in the fight to ensure that the NC State Administration does right by the hundreds of people who are currently battling cancer and other life-altering health problems caused by the toxic environment of Poe Hall – and to ensure that no further harm is done to members of the NC State community

Keep in touch

Have you been affected by the toxic conditions in Poe Hall or other campus buildings? Do you want to join us in taking care of our campus community? Follow the Campus Community Alliance for Environmental Justice on Instagram or email us at [email protected].