A group of North Carolina lawmakers wants to spend as much as $180 million renovating Poe Hall, the N.C. State University building that was closed amid reports of toxic chemicals in the building.
University officials closed the building in November 2023 due to the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls, potentially cancer-causing chemicals known as PCBs. In the months since its closure, WRAL News has been contacted by more than 200 people who worked or studied there and said they developed cancer.
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The new budget proposal, brought forth late Monday by the House Republicans who lead the chamber, could spend as little as $5 million if all the building needs is a minor overhaul. But it calls for spending up to $180 million in case the building needs to be fully gutted and rebuilt.
The proposal isn’t guaranteed to become law; leaders in the state Senate have been publicly skeptical of the House budget plan, which they think spends too much money. The two chambers are expected to continue debating how to address the new state budget, which begins in July. The chambers are negotiating how to spend a $1 billion surplus.
"My professor died, my boss died, my classmates are down with cancer," Sandy Alford said.
N.C. State alum and breast cancer survivor Sandy Alford spent the day warning students about Poe Hall.
She fears they and these workers are too close to the PCBs found on the interior and exterior of Poe Hall. The same chemicals she believes caused her and her colleague to get cancer.
"This is sort of like a sacred ground to some extent," Alford said.
But both Sandy and fellow breast cancer survivor Kate Norwalk said that money and even some of the university's $2-billion endowment should go to the people – not the building.
"If they really want to request money, they should request money to offset the medical bills of those who have gotten cancer or other illnesses while working in Poe Hall," Norwalk said.
They said they also pray that the building is not altered in any way until testers can get in and take independent samples of Poe Hall – so they better understand what they were exposed to.
"That's evidence," Alford said.
Poe Hall didn’t close until late 2023. Records released to 5 On Your Side by North Carolina State University revealed that the university had evidence of PCBs in the building as early as 2018.
PCBs in excess of 50 parts per million are considered hazardous special waste according to the EPA. University tests of Poe Hall in 2018 found PCB levels up to 17,000 ppm on the exterior of the building.
The chemicals were used in a wide variety of electrical and industrial components until being banned in the 1970s due to associated health risks. But many buildings constructed before the ban are still standing, including Poe Hall. Records show much of the PCB contamination inside Poe Hall came from a sealant inside the HVAC ducts.
In April, a lawsuit against the university claimed the university might have destroyed other evidence relating to Poe Hall. University leaders and their legal opponents have also battled in court over whether private inspectors should be allowed in the building to take their own samples; that fight is currently in front of the North Carolina Supreme Court.
One of the people who believe the building caused their health problems is Christie Lewis, a former N.C. State undergraduate student. She was diagnosed at 21 with thyroid cancer and at 22 with sarcoma.
"I was so sick when I was in Poe Hall, like so sick," Lewis told 5 On Your Side. "I’ve never been sick like that ever again."
N.C. State leaders, under fire from some in the campus community over their handling of the situation, have created a webpage with information on what's been found at Poe Hall and what steps are coming next.
"Protecting the health and safety of our community is, and has always been, our top priority throughout this process," the university said on that webpage. "Since the fall of 2023, the university has worked quickly to respond to concerns about Poe Hall’s environment and we continue to work diligently to help answer our community’s most pressing questions."