Make your voice heard.

Dear Chancellor Woodson and Campus Administrators,

As faculty, staff, students, graduate workers, and alumni at North Carolina State University, we are saddened, frustrated, and refuse to accept the University’s lack of transparency and accountability in response to the presence and impact of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in Poe Hall. For the most part, the campus community has had to find out about Poe Hall and the cancer cases linked to it from non-university news agencies like WRAL, News and Observer, and Ncnewsline. Based on these independent investigations and messages from the university, it is clear the administration has not only downplayed the severity of PCBs being present in a campus building, but they have also downplayed its impact on the health of the campus community. WRAL revealed “that North Carolina State University was aware of concerns regarding cancer-causing toxic chemicals inside Poe Hall over a month and a half before the university decided to evacuate the building.” On top of that, WRAL also found that NC State was made aware that there could potentially be PCBs in Poe Hall as far back as 2018, but the University decided not to conduct testing. 

It is scientifically confirmed and widely known that PCBs are cancer causing chemicals. As soon as the university knew, action should have been taken to inform and protect our campus community. We need truthfulness, accountability, and action now.  Enough is enough. Just like the residents of Warren County refused to accept PCBs being dumped in their community 42-years ago, we refuse to accept being exposed to PCBs in campus buildings where we learn, think and prepare students to change the world. 

We, the undersigned, have endorsed and expanded on the demands of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the NCSU Graduate Workers Union. Moreover, we express our strong sympathy for the faculty who registered a vote of no-confidence in the Chancellor and Provost. 

Our Demands:

1. The university must identify and contact faculty, staff, and students who have had extensive exposure to PCB chemicals in Poe Hall, regardless of their current employment or student status at the university. While this may seem difficult, it is necessary and the responsibility of the university. Poe Hall has served as a place that trains educators across the state and country, we have an obligation to them. This should be done through an agreed upon third party. 

2. In addition to notifying occupants of Poe Hall, the university must offer to fully compensate all current and former Poe occupants for relevant short and long-term health screenings. This includes medical costs for those who have been diagnosed with cancer. 

3. The university must commission an independent review of the Geosyntec report. While their procedures may fit within allowable practices they may not adhere to best practices. Questions include: which PCB congeners are tested for, the number and selection of sampling sites, continuous (rather than interrupted, as described in their most recent report) testing, the duration of tests, and the interpretation of tests performed under on and off ventilation conditions. Finally, it is important to know whether the surfaces sampled were cleaned subsequent to the earlier preliminary sampling carried out by NC State. In other words, the entire process and methods used for all testing should be communicated to NC State’s faculty, staff, students, and alumni. 

4. Our campus has a toxic chemical problem. NC State must establish an independently run, online system for students, faculty, & staff to report, anonymously if they wish, environmental health issues and concerns in campus buildings.

5. Our issue with toxic chemicals on campus is bigger than Poe Hall. NC State must test all campus buildings, including dormitories. This testing for environmental contaminants should be carried out by a credible independent entity across campus buildings. Given the challenges of conducting tests in all buildings, a selection of buildings to sample should be based on occupant reports, together with other concerning factors, such as the age of the building, and the suspected or known presence of legacy sources of contamination, such as asbestos insulation or PCB-containing fluorescent ballasts. Building evaluations should address several facets of air quality, such as air flow, carbon dioxide levels, particulate matter, mold, humidity and temperature, not only possible contaminants. 

6. Poe Hall should not be reopened. No faculty, staff, or students should be required to return to Poe Hall until it has been independently verified that the building is free of danger from PCBs.  Oftentimes, universities rush and only conduct short-term fixes. We need to address the core issue of the PCB problem in Poe Hall and implement long-term solutions. This approach should be extended to testing and repairs for all campus buildings. Our campus community can adjust to a short-term inconvenience when it comes to our health. 

Respectfully submitted,

NCSU Graduate Workers Organizing Committee, UE 150

The Campus Community Alliance for Environmental Justice

The NC State Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP)