ENVIRONMENTAL LIABILITIES AND EXPENDITURES

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Environmental Remediation Obligations [Abstract]

ENVIRONMENTAL LIABILITIES AND EXPENDITURES

NOTE 10 - ENVIRONMENTAL LIABILITIES AND EXPENDITURES

Occidental’s operations are subject to stringent federal, state, local and international laws and regulations related to improving or maintaining environmental quality. The laws that require or address environmental remediation, including CERCLA and similar federal, state, local and international 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; or operation and maintenance of remedial systems. The environmental 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.

ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION

As of December 31, 2019, Occidental participated in or monitored remedial activities or proceedings at 177 sites, which included 36 sites assumed through the Acquisition. The following table presents Occidental’s current and non-current environmental remediation liabilities as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, the current portion of which is included in accrued liabilities ($162 million in 2019 and $120 million in 2018) and the remainder in deferred credits and other liabilities - environmental remediation liabilities ($1.04 billion in 2019 and $762 million in 2018). Occidental continues to evaluate the remediation obligations assumed through the Acquisition.

Occidental’s environmental remediation sites are grouped into four categories: NPL sites listed or proposed for listing by the EPA on the CERCLA NPL and three categories of non-NPL sites — third-party sites, Occidental-operated sites and closed or non-operated Occidental sites.

	2019			2018
millions, except number of sites	Number of Sites	Remediation Balance		Number of Sites	Remediation Balance
NPL sites	36	$	463	34	$	458
Third-party sites	74	311		68	168
Occidental-operated sites	17	154		14	115
Closed or non-operated Occidental sites	50	269		29	141
Total	177	$	1,197	145	$	882

As of December 31, 2019, Occidental’s environmental liabilities exceeded $10 million each at 20 of the 177 sites described above, and 101 of the sites had liabilities from $0 to $1 million each. As of December 31, 2019, three sites — the Diamond Alkali Superfund Site and a former chemical plant in Ohio (both of which are indemnified by Maxus Energy Corporation, as discussed further below), and a landfill in Western New York — accounted for 94 percent of its liabilities associated with NPL sites. Seventeen of the 36 NPL sites are indemnified by Maxus.

Six of the 74 third-party sites — a Maxus-indemnified chrome site in New Jersey, a former copper mining and smelting operation in Tennessee, a former oil field, a landfill and a chemical plant in California, and an active refinery in Louisiana where Occidental reimburses the current owner for certain remediation activities — accounted for 75 percent of Occidental’s liabilities associated with these sites. Nine of the 74 third-party sites are indemnified by Maxus.

Five sites — oil and gas operations in Colorado and chemical plants in Kansas, Louisiana, New York and Texas — accounted for 67 percent of the liabilities associated with the Occidental-operated sites.

Six other sites — a landfill in Western New York, a former refinery in Oklahoma, former chemical plants in California, Tennessee and Washington, and a closed coal mine in Pennsylvania — accounted for 64 percent of the liabilities associated with closed or non-operated Occidental sites.

Environmental remediation liabilities vary over time depending on factors such as acquisitions or dispositions, identification of additional sites and remedy selection and implementation. Occidental recorded environmental remediation expenses of $112 million, $47 million and $39 million for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Environmental remediation expenses primarily relate to changes to existing conditions from past operations. Based on current estimates, Occidental expects to expend funds corresponding to approximately 40 percent of the year-end remediation balance over the next three to four years with the remainder over the subsequent 10 or more years. Occidental believes its range of reasonably possible additional losses beyond those amounts currently recorded for environmental remediation for all of its environmental sites could be up to $1.1 billion.

MAXUS ENVIRONMENTAL SITES

When Occidental acquired Diamond Shamrock Chemicals Company (DSCC) in 1986, Maxus, a subsidiary of YPF S.A. (YPF), agreed to indemnify Occidental for a number of environmental sites, including the Diamond Alkali Superfund Site (Site) along a portion of the Passaic River. On June 17, 2016, Maxus and several affiliated companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Federal District Court in the State of Delaware. Prior to filing for bankruptcy, Maxus defended and indemnified Occidental in connection with clean-up and other costs associated with the sites subject to the indemnity, including the Site.

In March 2016, the EPA issued a Record of Decision (ROD) specifying remedial actions required for the lower 8.3 miles of the Lower Passaic River. The ROD does not address any potential remedial action for the upper nine miles of the Lower Passaic River or Newark Bay. During the third quarter of 2016, and following Maxus’s bankruptcy filing, Occidental and the EPA entered into an Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) to complete the design of the proposed clean-up plan outlined in the ROD at an estimated cost of $165 million. The EPA announced that it will pursue similar agreements with other potentially responsible parties.

Occidental has accrued a remediation liability relating to its estimated allocable share of the costs to perform the design and the remediation called for in the AOC and the ROD, as well as for certain other Maxus-indemnified sites. Occidental’s accrued estimated environmental remediation liability does not consider any recoveries for indemnified costs. Occidental’s ultimate share of the estimated costs may be higher or lower than its accrued remediation liability, and is subject to final design plans and the resolution with other potentially responsible parties. Occidental continues to evaluate the costs to be incurred to comply with the AOC, the ROD and to perform remediation at other Maxus-indemnified sites in light of the Maxus bankruptcy and the share of ultimate liability of other potentially responsible parties. In June 2018, Occidental filed a complaint under CERCLA in Federal District Court in the State of New Jersey against numerous potentially responsible parties for reimbursement of amounts incurred or to be incurred to comply with the AOC, the ROD or to perform other remediation activities at the Site.

In June 2017, the court overseeing the Maxus bankruptcy approved a Plan of Liquidation (Plan) to liquidate Maxus and create a trust to pursue claims against YPF, Repsol and others to satisfy claims by Occidental and other creditors for past and future cleanup and other costs. In July 2017, the court-approved Plan became final and the trust became effective. Among other responsibilities, the trust will pursue claims against YPF, Repsol and others and distribute assets to Maxus’ creditors in accordance with the trust agreement and Plan. In June 2018, the trust filed its complaint against YPF and Repsol in Delaware bankruptcy court asserting claims based upon, among other things, fraudulent transfer and alter ego. On February 15, 2019, the bankruptcy court denied Repsol’s and YPF’s motions to dismiss the complaint.