Environmental Liabilities and Expenditures

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

Environmental Liabilities and Expenditures

Environmental Liabilities and Expenditures

7. Environmental Liabilities and Expenditures

Occidental’s operations are subject to stringent federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations related to improving or maintaining environmental quality.

The laws that require or address environmental remediation, including the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and similar federal, state, local and foreign laws, may apply retroactively and regardless of fault, the legality of the original activities or the current ownership or control of sites.  OPC or certain of its subsidiaries participate in or actively monitor a range of remedial activities and government or private proceedings under these laws with respect to alleged past practices at operating, closed and third-party sites.  Remedial activities may include one or more of the following:  investigation involving sampling, modeling, risk assessment or monitoring; cleanup measures including removal, treatment or disposal of hazardous substances; or operation and maintenance of remedial systems.  Government or private proceedings seek funding or performance of remediation and, in some cases, compensation for alleged property damage, punitive damages, civil penalties, injunctive relief and government oversight costs.

As of March 31, 2015, Occidental participated in or monitored remedial activities or proceedings at 146 sites.  The following table presents Occidental’s environmental remediation reserves as of March 31, 2015, the current portion of which is included in accrued liabilities ($79 million) and the remainder in deferred credits and other liabilities — other ($245 million).  The reserves are grouped as environmental remediation sites listed or proposed for listing by the United States Environmental Protection Agency on the CERCLA National Priorities List (NPL sites) and three categories of non-NPL sites — third-party sites, Occidental-operated sites and closed or non-operated Occidental sites.

	Number of Sites	Reserve Balance (in millions)
NPL sites	31	$	22
Third-party sites	66	95
Occidental-operated sites	17	108
Closed or non-operated Occidental sites	32	99
Total	146	$	324

As of March 31, 2015, Occidental’s environmental reserves exceeded $10 million each at 11 of the 146 sites described above, and 99 of the sites each had reserves of $1 million or less.  Based on current estimates, Occidental expects to expend funds corresponding to approximately half of the current environmental reserves at the sites described above over the next three to four years and the balance at these sites over the subsequent 10 or more years.  Occidental believes its range of reasonably possible additional losses beyond those liabilities recorded for environmental remediation at these sites could be up to $385 million.  The status of Occidental’s involvement with the sites and related significant assumptions has not changed materially since December 31, 2014.  For additional information regarding environmental matters, refer to Note 7, Lawsuits, Claims, Commitments and Contingencies for additional information.