EDITORS NOTE: A subsequent review of records shows 23 buildings tested positive for PCBs. The original report cited 22 buildings tested positive. Additional clarification has been added to show which buildings have been demolished since being tested for PCBs.

WRAL has been investigating PCBs discovered inside Poe Hall for nearly a year and has now uncovered nearly two dozen other campus buildings contaminated with the same chemical.

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At least 23 buildings on NC State's campus have tested positive for PCBs in the last 7 years.

The cancer-causing chemicals have been detected on the outside and/or inside of dorms, a library and classroom buildings.

One of the places where PCB levels were found above EPA hazardous waste levels indoors, was Gold Residence Hall in 2019.

"It's definitely not a great feeling to know that they've been discovered in there," said a freshman Gold Hall resident named Dmytriy.

After the university closed Poe Hall, WRAL Investigates asked NC State if other buildings on campus had been tested for PCBs. The university required that we file a public records request. Six months later, WRAL Investigates got 966 documents involving Matrix Health and Safety Consultants, the company that's done PCB testing at NC State for years.

In one document, an NC State Facilities manager and Matrix representative are discussing the discovery of PCBs in the caulking surrounding doors in Gold Hall.

"Now, the caulking at the 3 dorms is full of PCB," the Matrix representative said.

"I figured that would be the case," the NC State employee replied.

That was in 2019, more than four years before Poe Hall was closed.

Records also show the inside of Turlington Residence Hall and five other buildings have also tested positive for PCBs at varying levels.

Metcalf, Bowen and Carroll residence halls were among the 21 buildings where PCBs were detected on the outside.

In total, 23 NC State buildings tested positive for PCBs inside, outside or both since 2017.

"I'm not surprised at all," said environmental health scientist Dr. Robert Herrick.

Caulking that contained PCBs was widely used in the 1960s and 1970s.

"It was, like the top-quality material that people used at the time," Herrick explained.

That is until the EPA banned PCBs in 1979, determining they cause a myriad of health issues.

Herrick says even when PCBs are found on the outside of buildings, action should be taken.

"When you find the high levels in the caulk, whether it's inside or outside, that's a signal that there could be high levels in the air in the building, and maybe in the dust in the building," Herrick said.

NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson has said that the university considered the health hazards of PCBs in projects over the years.

"If our teams are undertaking a renovation or a maintenance project that may involve building materials that we suspect could have PCBs, then they may choose to test as appropriate," Woodson said during a virtual meeting about Poe Hall in March 2024.

Records show NC State has ordered testing at 27 buildings over the last seven years, mostly ahead of renovation or demolition projects.

Of the 27 buildings tested, PCBs were detected in 23. Five of those buildings that tested positive for PCBs have been demolished.

The records returned in this request generally show that when PCBs were suspected or discovered, NC State either took, or planned to take, the required safety steps to remove them.

Asked whether all PCBs found inside or outside campus buildings have been remediated, a university spokesperson replied: "This is a misleading question. NC State has many buildings that have been renovated over the years. As shown by the testing records provided, NC State has routinely tested for PCBs in connection with such building renovations. The regulatory requirements regarding PCB assessment, mitigation and remediation are applied differently depending on the circumstances, and accordingly NC State's responses are also dependent on the circumstances."

WRAL Investigates asked follow-up questions about specific buildings that tested positive and whether the identified PCBs have been remediated, mitigated or otherwise removed. for each question, the NC State spokesperson said we'd have to file a records request to get answers.

PCBs in NC State buildings

This is a list of all NC State buildings that have been tested for PCBs in the last seven years and what those tests showed.

BUILDINGS THAT TESTED NEGATIVE

Dairy Biolab

Interior tested in 2020. No PCBs detected

Don Ellis Building

Exterior tested in 2020. No PCBs detected

NC State University Greek House 1 (this building has since been demolished)

Exterior tested in 2018. No PCBs detected.

NC State University Greek Houses 12 (this building has since been demolished)

Exterior tested in 2018. No PCBs detected.

BUILDINGS THAT TESTED POSITIVE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE

111 Lampe Drive (formerly) Daniels Hall

Interior tested in 2021. PCBs detected, above EPA hazardous waste levels

Exterior tested in 2021. PCBs detected, above EPA hazardous waste levels

Harris Hall

Interior tested in 2018. PCBs detected, below EPA hazardous waste levels

Exterior tested in 2018. PCBs detected, above EPA hazardous waste levels

Mann Hall

Interior tested in 2021. PCBs detected, below EPA hazardous waste levels

Exterior tested in 2021. PCBs detected, above EPA hazardous waste levels

Page Hall

Interior tested in 2020. PCBs detected, below EPA hazardous waste levels

Exterior tested in 2020. PCBs detected, below EPA hazardous waste levels

Poe Hall

Interior tested in 2023. PCBs detected, above EPA hazardous waste levels

Exterior tested in 2018. PCBs detected, above EPA hazardous waste levels

BUILDINGS THAT TESTED POSITIVE INSIDE ONLY

Gold Hall

Interior tested in 2019. PCBs detected, above EPA hazardous waste levels

Turlington Hall

Interior tested in 2019. PCBs detected, below EPA hazardous waste levels

BUILDINGS THAT TESTED POSITIVE OUTSIDE ONLY

207 Oberlin Rd (demolition project)

Exterior detected in 2018. PCBs detected, below EPA hazardous waste levels

209 Oberlin Rd (demolition project)

Exterior tested in 2018. PCBs detected, above EPA hazardous waste levels

Bowen Hall

Exterior tested in 2019. PCBs detected, above EPA hazardous waste levels

Caldwell Hall

Exterior tested in 2019. PCBs detected, below EPA Hazardous waste levels

Carroll Hall

Exterior tested in 2019. PCBs detected, above EPA hazardous waste levels

DH Hill Library

Exterior tested in 2018. PCBs detected, above EPA hazardous waste levels

Holladay Hall

Exterior tested in 2023. PCBs detected, below EPA Hazardous waste levels

Metcalf Hall

Exterior tested in 2019. PCBs detected, above EPA hazardous waste levels

NC State University Greek House 7 (this building has since been demolished)

Exterior tested in 2020. PCBs detected, above EPA hazardous waste levels

NC State University Greek House 8 (this building has since been demolished)

Exterior tested in 2020. PCBs detected, above EPA hazardous waste levels

NC State University Greek House 11 (this building has since been demolished)

Exterior tested in 2018. PCBs detected, below EPA hazardous waste levels

Nelson Hall

Exterior tested in 2022. PCBs detected, below EPA hazardous waste levels

Polk Hall

Interior tested in 2021. No PCBs detected

Exterior tested in 2021. PCBs detected, below EPA hazardous waste levels

Ricks Hall

Tested in 2021. PCBs detected, below EPA hazardous waste levels. Report does not make clear whether interior, exterior or both were tested.

Scott Hall

Exterior tested in 2018. PCBs detected, above EPA hazardous waste levels

Tompkins Hall

Exterior tested in 2019. PCBs detected, below EPA Hazardous waste levels