Outside experts can get into Poe Hall at North Carolina State University to test for cancer-causing chemicals known as PCBs according to an agreement between N.C. State and attorneys for Dr. Darren Masier filed Friday in court.
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This has been a long fight to get access to Poe Hall that the university has spent $330,000 in attorney’s fees arguing, according to public records.
Friday's filing says "NC State has voluntarily provided certain documents to Dr. Masier’s counsel on the agreed condition they be kept confidential and will voluntarily allow Dr. Masier and his representatives access to Poe Hall for inspection and testing on terms and conditions to which the parties have agreed."
The filing goes on to ask that the prior orders in the case be vacated and that the petition be dismissed.
It's a huge win for hundreds of people who worked or studied in the building for years and want a clearer picture of what they've been exposed to.
This legal battle between N.C. State and former graduate student, Dr. Darren Masier, got all the way to the North Carolina Supreme Court. But before the court weighed in with their opinion, the two sides reached this agreement.
At this point, we don't know exactly what that testing will look like, but experts for Masier say the testing done by Geosyntec and N.C. State inadequately addresses the PCB exposure in the building.
There were just 17 air samples taken inside the building. Experts WRAL News spoke with said 1,000 air samples would be more appropriate for a building that size.
5 On Your Side has reached out to N.C. State for a comment and recieved the following statement:
We are pleased that we have reached an agreement with all law firms -- including those involved in the pending litigation --- who have reached out to us on behalf of potential claimants to allow them access to Poe Hall to conduct testing and visual inspections of the building.
All parties to the agreement are currently working together to generate plans and details as agreed to, but we expect that all inspections and testing will be complete by early August. While the building remains closed and access limited, this approach ensures that the interested law firms are able to gather the information they are seeking in an orderly process prior to any remediation of the building.