NC State to demolish Poe Hall after EPA approval

North Carolina State University said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved its plan to fully demolish Poe Hall, pushing the long-contested building on Stinson Drive toward removal after more than two years of closure and federal review.

NC State said fencing would start going up around the seven-story building the week after its May 29 announcement, with demolition and abatement work expected to follow. University officials also said the long-term plan is to replace the former College of Education building with a new space, a move they framed as part of a larger planning process that still had to satisfy federal requirements and limit disruption to the academic calendar.

The decision marks a major turn in a contamination case that has already produced lawsuits and deep concern among former students, faculty and staff who say they were exposed to toxic chemicals inside the building. Poe Hall was closed in November 2023 after testing found PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, in the building and its HVAC system. NC State’s archives say the building was completed and dedicated in 1971 and was built specifically for the College of Education.

The demolition does not settle the central health questions. EPA says PCBs have been demonstrated to cause serious health effects, including cancer, along with immune, reproductive, developmental, neurological and endocrine harm. In January 2026, 12 former students, faculty and staff filed suit alleging PCB exposure led to cancers and deaths. Their complaint described contamination in caulking, sealants, mastics, adhesives, electrical components and fluorescent light ballasts, and said the HVAC system helped spread toxins through the building.

NC State also received the written National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health report on Poe Hall in March. NIOSH had been conducting a Health Hazard Evaluation there since February 2024, and local reporting on the review said investigators found higher-than-expected cancer cases among Poe Hall employees, including elevated melanoma counts, but could not prove causation. That leaves the university facing not just demolition and cleanup costs, but continuing questions about what happened during decades of occupancy.

The university filed its own lawsuit against Monsanto in October 2025, alleging the company manufactured and supplied PCB-containing building materials used in Poe Hall and seeking damages for remediation costs, punitive damages and attorneys’ fees. For NC State, the EPA approval clears the way to remove the building. For the people who say they were exposed inside it, the fight over accountability is far from over.