(This story by Derek Carson was first published in the Bennington Banner on June 14, 2017.)
[B]ENNINGTON — Three faculty members at Bennington College have received a $300,000 grant to investigate PFOA and its effects.
The grant, from the National Science Foundation, will allow the faculty members, David Bond, Janet Foley and Tim Schroeder, to “deepen and expand the college’s response to PFOA contamination in New York and Vermont,” according to Bennington College Director of Media Relations and Public Affairs Alex Dery Snider.
“Support from the NSF will allow Bennington College to do what we do best: confront the big problems of our time and put students and faculty to work crafting new insights and new solutions in real time,” said Bond, associate director of the college’s Center for the Advancement of Public Action.
Snider said the project will equip a handful of science classes in chemistry, geology and environmental studies to produce independent data on PFOA contamination. Bond, Foley and Schroeder are joined on the grant by associate professor of chemistry Laura MacManus-Spencer of Union College.
“This project will provide a crucial home base for the growing network of research scientists and science educators in our region concerned about PFOA,” said MacManus-Spencer. “From university laboratories to high school classrooms, this project will help organize and apply the scientific resources of our region to the urgent questions being raised about PFOA by local residents.”
“This grant will allow us to more effectively apply the Bennington philosophy of learning by doing. Rather than just reading case studies of groundwater contamination incidents, our students will be actively investigating a local problem,” said geology faculty member Schroeder. “Students will learn about the science of PFOA contamination and, by visiting impacted communities, also learn why science matters.”
“We are very excited to be able to follow up on strategies for involving students in the next phase of community involvement with the PFOA contamination in our area,” said chemistry faculty member Janet Foley. “We hope to develop multiple mechanisms for students to engage in this issue, such as incorporating PFOA modules in our science classes, training students in GIS [geographic information system] to develop visual mapping of data, and proteomic studies with yeast to explore the effects of PFOA from a molecular point of view. This issue is an opportunity for students to see that by integrating knowledge with real-life problems, they can make real changes in the world.”
PFOA, or perfluorooctanoic acid, was used in industry for decades to manufacture the non-stick coating Teflon. PFOA has been linked to health problems such as kidney and testicular cancers, thyroid diseases and high cholesterol. It was found in some private wells serving homes and businesses in Bennington and North Bennington, but not the municipalities’ public water systems. The suspected source is the former ChemFab factory in North Bennington, which Saint-Gobain operated for two years before closing it in 2002. It has also been discovered in nearby Hoosick Falls, New York, and Pownal and Shaftsbury.
Bennington College has been largely involved in the response to the contamination. The National Science Foundation previously awarded the college a $90,000 Rapid Response grant, which allowed the college to design and offer a new course on the chemical properties, environmental pathways and policy concerns surrounding PFOA. Along with Bennington students, the class was opened to high school teachers, nurses, local journalists and community members from Hoosick Falls and Bennington. According to Snider, the additional support from the NSF will allow the college to continue running the class once a year for three years.
The college also hosted many of the public information sessions regarding the state’s response to the contamination, and in May hosted a two-day conference on PFOA for students, co-convened by Bond and Hoosick Falls Central School District Superintendent Ken Facin.
“Bridging local questions about PFOA contamination with the analytic resources and manpower of the science classroom, this project showcases the civic value of science in times of new environmental challenges and toxic uncertainties,” said Bond. “It promises a new educational model for colleges and universities to respond to nearby environmental problems.”
