North Carolina State University's College of Education, one of the departments that was housed in Poe Hall, is allowing students, faculty and staff – past and present – to ask questions about the ongoing contamination investigation at the building.
On Friday, the dean of the department, Paola Sztajn, sent an email with a link to a Google form where people can submit questions, anonymously, about the testing for PCBs in Poe Hall. The form will remain open until noon on June 12, when, Sztajn wrote, the collected questions will be submitted to university emergency management staff, who have been working on the response to the contamination.
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The email also addressed what it called three common questions about the education department, the investigation and the future of Poe Hall.
1. Getting stuff out of Poe Hall
Since the building closed in November, students, faculty and staff have been unable to re-enter. Anything left behind remains inside.
"It is still unclear when we will be able to retrieve items from Poe Hall because there is a pending litigation," the email said, acknowledging "We all want our things back, and not having them is hard."
2. What is the future of Poe Hall?
Poe Hall closed in November, and will remain closed at least through the end of 2024, the university has said. The building was home to the College of Education and Psychology Department.
In her email, Sztajn wrote, "Significant changes to the building are being considered" and that the “university is beginning to put together a plan for next steps.”
3. A temporary home for NC State's education department
Sztajn's email extended the time that the education department classes and offices are expected to be banned from Poe Hall.
She wrote: "Because all this will still take time, we need to continue to work with the university on how to address our space needs ... we should all prepare to be in our designated spaces ... for the whole of the 2024-2025 academic year."
The state’s second highest court ruled Wednesday that North Carolina State University must allow independent investigators in Poe Hall to test the building.
The decision is a victory for hundreds of former workers and students who spent time in Poe Hall and told 5 On Your Side exclusively that they later developed cancer.
N.C. State closed the building last fall, after a group of faculty battling cancer – suspecting environmental contaminants may have contributed to their illnesses – asked the university to test the building for toxins. Testing revealed high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, known as PCBs.
PCBs were commonly used in construction in the mid- to early-1970s – around the time that Poe Hall was built – but they are now known to cause cancer.
Christie Lewis, a former graduate student who was diagnosed with two types of cancer, said the measure feels too little, too late.
"I feel like they're late to the show," she said.
Lewis said she did not receive the email, but plans on answering questions anonymously.
WRAL News spoke to several professionals who suggested upwards of 1,000 samples would be needed to adequately show the impact of PCBs in the building. Thursday update has Lewis wondering about how genuine the university is in keeping everyone who has walked into Poe Hall.
"It's never too late to make the right choice," she said. "However, the cheery disposition in the thoroughness [like], 'We're on top of this,' is really upsetting to me. Because that's not what I've seen, it just looks very disingenuous to at this point."