NORTH BENNINGTON Faculty at Bennington College expect a new course that will be offered this year, supported by a National Science Foundation grant of almost $90,000, will provide more information about how PFOA got into some private water sources in North Bennington.

The grant was announced Thursday, the same day Gov. But health care professionals have found a correlation between elevated levels of PFOA and high blood pressure, low birth weight and kidney and testicular cancer, among other health problems.

The Bennington College course, which will be co-taught by Tim Schroeder, a professor of Earth science, Janet Foley, a professor of chemistry, and David Bond, a faculty member and associate director of Center for the Advancement of Political Action, is supported by a National Science Foundation rapid response grant.

According to the foundations website, the grants support quick-response research in matters of severe urgency like natural disasters or the presence of environmental pollution caused by human activity.

The six-week course, Understanding PFOA in Our Water, will take place this semester and again in the fall.

The source of the PFOA is expected to be those plants, although Vermont officials say they have not yet determined the legally responsible parties for certain.

PFOA has not been found in the municipal water in Bennington or North Bennington, but higher levels of PFOA were found in five private wells in North Bennington. State officials have said they believe the best and safest solution in North Bennington is to connect all residents to municipal water.

Foley said something else that might be determined by the research done in the class is how the PFOA has remained present in North Bennington although the plant closed operations in 2002.

In a statement, Bond said the grant would allow the college and its students to work on solving those mysteries and work toward protecting peoples water.

Support from the National Science Foundation will allow Bennington College to do what it does best: engage the big problems of our present directly and put students and faculty to work crafting new insights and new solutions in real-time, he said.

On Thursday, Shumlin, along with New Yorks Gov. NORTH BENNINGTON Faculty at Bennington College expect a new course that will be offered this…