Published: November 1, 2000

Overheard

"We had containers that were swelling or oozing, and we couldn't tell what they were."

— J.D. Bennett, an administrator with the Southeast Board of Cooperative Educational Services who helped organize removal of old chemicals from 15 school laboratories in the Lamar, Colorado, area this summer. Health officials have found improperly stored chemicals—including radioactive uranium compounds, explosive crystals, and chemicals purchased as far back as the 1930s—in more than 90 percent of the Colorado schools they have inspected over the past two years.

"The three R's shouldn't be retail, resale, and rebate."