We present an integrative laboratory investigation incorporating skills from inorganic chemistry, analytical instrumentation, and physical chemistry applied to a laboratory-scale model of the environmental problem of chlorinated ethylenes in groundwater. Perchloroethylene (C[subscript 2]Cl[subscript 4], PCE) a common dry cleaning solvent, undergoes sequential replacement of Cl with H to trichloroethylene (C[subscript 2]HCl[subscript 3]) and subsequently "cis"-dichloroethylene (C[subscript 2]H[subscript 2]Cl[subscript 2]) through catalytic reductive dechlorination with water-soluble cobalt complexes. PCE degradation is monitored by gas chromatography and the first-order rate constants are determined. Experimental conditions may be varied to optimize chlorinated ethylene dechlorination and explore the important parameters governing degradation. Students work with reduction-oxidation active compounds and analyze "real-world" kinetic data sets. (Contains 2 tables and 3 figures.)