NC State University filed a lawsuit against Monsanto, alleging the company failed to warn the university about the dangers of PCBs (Polychlorinated Biphenyls) that have caused "extensive" contamination in Poe Hall.
North Carolina State University filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against chemical manufacturing giant Monsanto, alleging the company failed to warn the university of the dangers of PCBs, which were used in the construction of many of the university's buildings, including Poe Hall.
The lawsuit called PCB chemicals "toxic," noting that they can cause "serious illness" like cancer.
It goes on to say that the PCB contamination in Poe Hall is "so extensive" that the building will likely be demolished. It was one of the first times the university had explicitly laid out the dangers lurking in Poe Hall.
Previously, the university had told the public that "the testing data," showed "PCB concentrations in the air do not exceed applicable EPA risk-based thresholds."
However, in its lawsuit, NC State asserts that the "PCB contamination of indoor air and interior surfaces ... constitutes a public nuisance" and requires "abatement." Yet, the suit stopped short of linking the contamination to the hundreds of cancer cases reported by workers and students who spent years in the building.
On Thursday, WRAL News asked NC State how the university can "reconcile acknowledging PCBs as toxic, cancer-causing, and present in dangerous levels at Poe Hall, while not conceding any link to illnesses reported by its former students and employees?"
University spokesperson April Norris responded by saying the "lawsuit is about assigning accountability and responsibility to Monsanto, which manufactured and furnished the PCBs used in the construction of Poe Hall."
Hundreds of former workers and students who spent time in Poe Hall have indicated to WRAL News that they plan to take legal action against both NC State and Monsanto over their ailments.
Norris added that NC State's lawsuit against Monsanto "does not stop" workers and students affected by Poe Hall "from pursuing claims" they may want to bring, adding that the university had been in contact with attorneys representing sick individuals for "the past two years."
David Kirby, an attorney representing hundreds of people who say they became ill, called the university uncooperative and unsupportive of the people he represents. However, he added that he applauds any litigation in pursuit of justice for victims of "exposure to PCBs at Poe Hall."
Several states and entities have taken Monsanto to court over PCB contamination. Currently, the Vermont Attorney General is suing Monsanto over contamination in the environment and schools.
NC State claims Monsanto misled the university and that it was unaware of the risks of PCBs. Monsanto told WRAL News that it had warned the third-party manufacturing company that made the PCB-laden materials used in Poe Hall of the dangers of PCBs once they were discovered, but it didn't specify when that warning took place.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] outlawed PCBs in 1979. The World Health Organization has since deemed the chemicals "carcinogenic." Poe Hall was built in 1971.
A WRAL investigation found employees inside Poe Hall had complained about air quality for years. A letter from 2012, sent to the university's Environmental Health Department, shows faculty expressed concerns over the air quality in Poe Hall as far back as 2007.
The letter, sent by an associate dean at the time, states an employee had to place "cheesecloth-like" fabric over vents to serve as an additional filter. The associate dean asked the department to conduct testing to confirm there was "nothing dangerous" in Poe Hall. It is unclear if that testing ever happened.
In 2018, the university tested the exterior of Poe Hall for PCBs. One sample contained concentrations of PCBs 240 times higher than levels deemed unsafe for human exposure by the Environmental Protection Agency; another was 300 times greater.
While NC State was under no obligation to take additional samples, the consultants who conducted the 2018 testing told the university that PCBs could be present in other parts of the building.
The university did not test the interior of Poe Hall until a group of employees battling cancer complained to the state labor department and the EPA in 2023. Initial testing revealed high levels of PCBs throughout the building. The university closed Poe Hall shortly after out of an "abundance of caution," but declined to provide health guidance to concerned staff and students.
In 2024, three months after the closure, WRAL News reported the university had quietly stalled a federal health investigation into Poe Hall. The investigation was reopened in May, shortly after the report. Norris said the university is now "eagerly awaiting the results."
Following the closure, many people who spent time in Poe Hall told WRAL News that they felt left in the dark by the university and could not trust the testing conducted by NC State.
Norris painted a different picture on Thursday, noting that the university "granted them access to the building to conduct their own testing." But that only happened after a man who studied in Poe Hall and developed leukemia petitioned the court.
Former students now battling cancer told WRAL News that they had mixed feelings over the lawsuit. They said they blame both Monsanto, the maker of the chemicals, and NC State, the owner of the building.
Others battling cancer told WRAL News they had never been notified of the "toxic" chemicals present in Poe Hall and only learned of the situation through news reports. Following the lawsuit, they called on the university to conduct more outreach.
While NC State did not link the cases of cancer to the contamination in the filing, it did request that Monsanto pay for any future personal injury or workers' compensation claims.
Related: Closed: Poe Hall
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