Environmental Liabilities and Expenditures

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

Environmental Remediation Obligations [Abstract]

Environmental Liabilities and Expenditures

NOTE 9 - ENVIRONMENTAL LIABILITIES AND EXPENDITURES

Occidental’s operations are subject to stringent federal, regional, state, provincial, tribal, 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, regional, state, provincial, tribal, 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. Occidental 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 March 31, 2021, Occidental participated in or monitored remedial activities or proceedings at 168 sites. The following table presents Occidental’s current and non-current environmental remediation liabilities as of March 31, 2021. The current portion, $123 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	34	$	445
Third-party sites	69	303
Occidental-operated sites	17	141
Closed or non-operated Occidental sites	48	263
Total	168	$	1,152

As of March 31, 2021, Occidental’s environmental remediation liabilities exceeded $10 million each at 19 of the 168 sites described above, and 96 of the sites had liabilities from zero to $1 million each. Based on current estimates, Occidental expects to expend funds corresponding to approximately 45% 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, 2020.

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 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 and 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 and 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