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, 2014	As of December 31, 2013
	(In $ millions)
Demerger obligations (Note 18)	25	27
Divestiture obligations (Note 18)	21	21
Active sites	31	32
US Superfund sites	12	13
Other environmental remediation reserves	3	4
Total	92	97

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, demerger, 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 18). 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 US Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA"), 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 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 is scheduled to be completed next year. 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 was 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 sought recovery of costs arising from alleged discharges into the Lower Passaic River and was resolved as to the Company in December 2013.

The EPA issued a proposed plan for remedial alternatives to address cleanup of the lower 8-mile stretch of the Passaic River on April 11, 2014. The EPA estimates the cost for the alternatives will range from $365 million to $3.2 billion. The EPA's preferred alternative would involve dredging the Passaic River bank to bank and installing an engineered cap at an estimated cost of $1.7 billion. The public comment period was extended and ends August 21, 2014, after which the EPA will evaluate all the input and make its final record of decision, which is expected in early 2015. Currently, the RI/FS is still ongoing and the EPA has not considered comments or determined the scope of the requested cleanup, nor have the final remedy and costs been determined. Additionally, the Company has found no evidence that it contributed any of the primary contaminants of concern to the Passaic River. Accordingly, the Company cannot reliably estimate its portion of the final costs for this matter at this time. The Company is vigorously defending these and all related matters and believes its ultimate allocable share of the cleanup costs will not be material.

Environmental Proceedings

In January 2013, following self-disclosures by the Company, the Company's Meredosia, Illinois site received a Notice of Violation/Finding of Violation from the EPA Region 5 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, it does 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 Company's Industrial Specialties segment.