COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (Details)	1 Months Ended			9 Months Ended
	Jul. 31, 2016 item	Mar. 31, 2016 mi	May 31, 2007 entity mi	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Asset retirement obligations				$ 214,686,000	$ 217,043,000	$ 226,594,000	$ 234,680,000	$ 234,919,000	$ 226,565,000
Number of groundwater extraction wells | item	2
Liability for claims and litigation				0
Cooperating Parties Group [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of other companies to perform a Remedial Investigation/ Feasibility Study related to the Lower Passaic River Clean-Up lawsuit | entity			70
Number of miles of the River used in the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study | mi			17
Number of miles for bank-to-bank dredging remedy | mi		8
Texas Brine and Occidental Chemical Co [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Total amount of damages claimed				500,000,000
Maximum [Member] | EPA [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Estimated implementation costs				1,380,000,000
Standby Letters of Credit [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Outstanding standby letters of credit				$ 39,840,000