Environmental

General

The Company is subject to environmental laws and regulations worldwide that impose limitations on the discharge of pollutants into the air and water and establish standards for the treatment, storage and disposal of solid and hazardous wastes. The Company believes that it is in substantial compliance with all applicable environmental laws and regulations. The Company is also subject to retained environmental obligations specified in various contractual agreements arising from the divestiture of certain businesses by the Company or one of its predecessor companies.

The components of environmental remediation reserves are as follows:



	As of June 30, 2013	As of December 31, 2012
	(In $ millions)
Demerger obligations (Note 17)	27	31
Divestiture obligations (Note 17)	22	21
Active sites	25	28
US Superfund sites	14	15
Other environmental remediation reserves	5	4
Total	93	99

Remediation

Due to its industrial history and through retained contractual and legal obligations, the Company has the obligation to remediate specific areas on its own sites as well as on divested, orphan or US Superfund sites (as defined below). In addition, as part of the demerger agreement between the Company and Hoechst AG ("Hoechst"), a specified portion of the responsibility for environmental liabilities from a number of Hoechst divestitures was transferred to the Company (Note 17). The Company provides for such obligations when the event of loss is probable and reasonably estimable. The Company believes that environmental remediation costs will not have a material adverse effect on the financial position of the Company, but may have a material adverse effect on the results of operations or cash flows in any given period.

US Superfund Sites

In the US, the Company may be subject to substantial claims brought by US federal or state regulatory agencies or private individuals pursuant to statutory authority or common law. In particular, the Company has a potential liability under the US Federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended, and related state laws (collectively referred to as "Superfund") for investigation and cleanup costs at certain sites. At most of these sites, numerous companies, including the Company, or one of its predecessor companies, have been notified that the Environmental Protection Agency, state governing bodies or private individuals consider such companies to be potentially responsible parties ("PRP") under Superfund or related laws. The proceedings relating to these sites are in various stages. The cleanup process has not been completed at most sites and the status of the insurance coverage for some of these proceedings is uncertain. Consequently, the Company cannot accurately determine its ultimate liability for investigation or cleanup costs at these sites.

As events progress at each site for which it has been named a PRP, the Company accrues, as appropriate, a liability for site cleanup. Such liabilities include all costs that are probable and can be reasonably estimated. In establishing these liabilities, the Company considers its shipment of waste to a site, its percentage of total waste shipped to the site, the types of wastes involved, the conclusions of any studies, the magnitude of any remedial actions that may be necessary and the number and viability of other PRPs. Often the Company joins with other PRPs to sign joint defense agreements that settle, among PRPs, each party’s percentage allocation of costs at the site. Although the ultimate liability may differ from the estimate, the Company routinely reviews the liabilities and revises the estimate, as appropriate, based on the most current information available.

One such site is the Lower Passaic River Study Area. The Company and 70 other companies are parties to a May 2007 Administrative Order on Consent with the US Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") to perform a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study ("RI/FS") of the contaminants in the lower 17-mile stretch known as the Lower Passaic River Study Area. The RI/FS is ongoing and may take several more years to complete. The Company is among a group of settling parties to a June 2012 Administrative Order on Consent with the EPA to perform a removal action on a small section of the river. The Company has also been named as a third-party defendant along with more than 200 other entities in an action initially brought by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection ("NJDEP") in the Supreme Court of New Jersey against Occidental Chemical Corporation and several other companies. This suit by the NJDEP seeks recovery of past and future clean-up costs, as well as unspecified economic damages, punitive damages, penalties and a variety of other forms of relief arising from alleged discharges into the Lower Passaic River.

In 2007, the EPA issued a draft study that evaluated alternatives for early remedial action of a portion of the Passaic River at an estimated cost of $900 million to $2.3 billion. Several parties commented on the draft study, and the EPA has announced its intention to issue a proposed plan in 2013. Although the Company's assessment that the contamination allegedly released by the Company is likely an insignificant aspect of the final remedy, because the RI/FS is still ongoing, and the EPA has not finalized its study or the scope of requested cleanup the Company cannot reliably estimate its portion of the final remedial costs for this matter at this time. However, the Company currently believes that its portion of the costs would be less than approximately 1% to 2%. The Company is vigorously defending these and all related matters.

Environmental Proceedings

On January 7, 2013, following self-disclosures by the Company, the Company's Meredosia, Illinois site received a Notice of Violation/Finding of Violation from the US Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 ("EPA") alleging Clean Air Act violations. The Company is working with the EPA and with the state agency to reach a resolution of this matter. Based on currently available information and the Company's past experience, we do not believe that resolution of this matter will have a significant impact on the Company, even though the Company cannot conclude that a penalty will be less than $100,000. The Meredosia, Illinois site is included in the Industrial Specialties segment.