Poe Hall latest: 52 cancer cases, calls for vote of no confidence against NC State chancellor

WRAL 5 On Your Side has independently confirmed 52 cases of cancer and other reports of illness in people who spent time in Poe Hall.

Posted 3:45 p.m. Feb 7 — Updated 11:12 p.m. Feb 7

Keely Arthur

, WRAL consumer reporter

An North Carolina State University employee has called for a vote of no confidence against N.C. State’s Chancellor Randy Woodson and other high ranking university officials following a WRAL 5 On Your Side investigation.

The email sent Tuesday to the College of Education Coordinating Committee focuses on N.C. State’s handling of Poe Hall.

The building, once home to classrooms and labs, closed in November due to the presence of toxic chemicals known as PCBs, believed to be carcinogenic, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The email also calls for a vote of no-confidence for Dean of Education Paola Sztajn and Executive Chancellor and Provost Warwick Arden.

“The purpose is to hold separate votes of no-confidence … over their mishandling of the contamination of Poe Hall and the cancer cluster, especially given the recent news that the University has prevented the federal government from investigating the issue,” Steve Porter, an N.C. State employee who worked in Poe Hall, wrote.

“I can think of no greater indictment than the fact that we have learned almost everything about the Poe Hall PCB contamination and cancer cluster from the news media, while we have heard nothing but meaningless platitudes from our leadership,” it continued.

Porter has butted heads with the university before. He sued N.C. State in 2022 claiming he was retaliated against for his comments on social justice. A federal appeals court ruled in favor of N.C. State last year.

WRAL 5 On Your Side has independently confirmed 52 cases of cancer and other reports of illness in people who spent time in Poe Hall.

On Monday, WRAL revealed a letter given exclusively to 5 On Your Side claiming N.C. State asked the federal government to stop investigating potentially high rates of cancer after toxic chemicals were found in Poe Hall.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officially confirmed to WRAL News that N.C. State withdrew its request for a Health Hazard Investigation.

5 On Your Side confirms 40 cancer cases connected to NC State building

“NCSU’s general counsel withdrew the request in January 2024,” a spokesperson from the CDC said.

They added that the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which is part of the CDC, does “not have the authority to proceed with its evaluation without the cooperation of NCSU.”

Despite this confirmation, representatives from N.C. State told WRAL News it was not their decision to pull out of the investigation.

N.C. State is not currently involved in any investigation dealing with the health of the people who spent time in Poe Hall, spokesperson Mary Cole Pike confirmed to WRAL.

“N.C. State is not formally collecting information on health conditions,” Pike said.

Dr. David Carpenter, an environmental scientist with the University at Albany New York, called the levels found at Poe Hall extraordinarily high and questioned why the university is not participating in a health investigation.

In December, N.C. State hired a consulting firm to investigate the building itself.

“N.C. State engaged Geosyntec Consultants to conduct further testing and provide recommendations and guidance, in consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency, to N.C. State on appropriate next steps,” N.C. State told 5 On Your Side

5 On Your Side spent 11 weeks looking through documents, filing 11 open records requests and more than 1,000 emails, phone calls and texts about Poe Hall. 5 On Yous Side has now independently confirmed 52 cases of cancer in employees and students who spent time in Poe Hall.

NC State said it was not their decision to withdraw from the federal health investigation, calling our reports false. For the sake of transparency, we have acquired the statement from the CDC saying NC State’s general counsel withdrew the request for the investigation in January, as well as a letter from a federal doctor saying the same.

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