Environmental Liabilities and Expenditures

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2020

Environmental Remediation Obligations [Abstract]

Environmental Liabilities and Expenditures

NOTE 11 - 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 June 30, 2020, Occidental participated in or monitored remedial activities or proceedings at 177 sites. The following table presents Occidental’s current and non-current environmental remediation liabilities as of June 30, 2020. The current portion, $160 million, is included in accrued liabilities and the non-current portion, $1.0 billion, in deferred credits and other liabilities - environmental remediation liabilities.

Occidental’s environmental remediation sites are grouped into four categories: sites listed or proposed for listing by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the CERCLA National Priorities List (NPL) and three categories of non-NPL sites — third-party sites, Occidental-operated sites and closed or non-operated Occidental sites.

millions, except number of sites	Number of Sites	Remediation Balance
NPL sites	37	$	458
Third-party sites	73	292
Occidental-operated sites	17	148
Closed or non-operated Occidental sites	50	262
Total	177	$	1,160

As of June 30, 2020, Occidental’s environmental remediation liabilities exceeded $10 million each at 19 of the 177 sites described above, and 100 of the sites had liabilities from zero to $1 million each. Based on current estimates, Occidental expects to expend funds corresponding to approximately 45 percent of the period-end remediation balance at the sites described above over the next three to four years and the remaining 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 $1.1 billion. The status of Occidental's involvement with the sites and related significant assumptions, including those sites indemnified by Maxus Energy Corporation (Maxus), has not changed materially since December 31, 2019.

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 September 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 reserve relating to its estimated allocable share of the costs to perform the design and remediation called for in the AOC and the ROD, as well as for certain other Maxus-indemnified sites. Occidental's accrued estimated environmental reserve does not consider any recoveries for indemnified costs. Occidental’s ultimate share of this liability may be higher or lower than the reserved amount, and is subject to final design plans and the resolution of Occidental's allocable share 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. During 2019, the bankruptcy court denied Repsol's and YPF's motions to dismiss the complaint as well as their motions to move the case away from the bankruptcy court. Discovery remains ongoing at the time of this report.