School Lab Cleanout Program

Many middle schools and high schools contain stockpiles of unused and improperly-stored chemicals that were once helpful in teaching students the basics of chemistry but now may pose a threat to teachers and students. They also may pose a threat to air and water quality, if stored or disposed of improperly.

Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is partnering with Metro and Lane County to inform teachers about the hazards of lab chemicals, and to help them identify and safely dispose of those not needed for teaching. DEQ hired Dave Waddell of Waddell Environmental LLC, to provide training to local government staff. The contractor will perform the chemical cleanouts along with local government staff, who will pack, transport and dispose of unneeded chemicals. DEQ will pay the disposal costs.

Waddell Environmental LLC provides teachers and other school staff training on:

• How to inventory and assess chemicals found in schools.
• How to manage and safely store hazardous chemicals in schools.
• How to reduce chemical stockpiles in biology labs.
• Lesson plans for least toxic chemistry labs.
• A list of chemicals whose risks outweigh their educational usefulness.

The program is based on a Washington program in King County (Seattle) called “Rehab the Lab,” which collected more than 40 tons of science chemicals for safe disposal. A similar pilot program was done in 2006 by Metro under a grant from EPA. The Metro project cleaned out 15 Portland-area high school labs and 4 middle school labs.

The contractor and Metro household hazardous waste staff are visiting 8-10 schools in districts in the Metro region in January-March 2009. Lane County will schedule workshops and school visits in March-May 2009. After the program’s costs and effectiveness are measured, DEQ will decide whether to expand it into other Oregon counties.

• Visit the "Rehab the Lab" Web site.
  The "Rehab the Lab" Web site provides assistance to schools to help them manage their hazardous chemicals. You can download fully scripted lesson plans for least-toxic chemistry labs, information on ways to reduce chemical stockpiles in biology labs, and a database of school chemicals that describes their risks and educational utility and provides guidelines for their storage, purchasing and disposal.

For more information, contact Maggie Conley at 503-229-5106 or

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