Environmental Liabilities and Expenditures

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

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 relating to improving or maintaining environmental quality.  Occidental’s environmental compliance costs have generally increased over time and could continue to rise in the future.  Occidental factors environmental expenditures for its operations into its business planning process as an integral part of producing quality products responsive to market demand.

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; 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.

As of September 30, 2011, Occidental participated in or monitored remedial activities or proceedings at 169 sites.  The following table presents Occidental’s environmental remediation reserves as of September 30, 2011, the current portion of which is included in accrued liabilities ($78 million) and the remainder in deferred credits and other liabilities — other ($277 million).  The reserves are grouped as environmental remediation sites listed or proposed for listing by the U.S. 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	38	$	59
Third-party sites	81	94
Occidental-operated sites	21	111
Closed or non-operated Occidental sites	29	91
Total	169	$	355

As of September 30, 2011, Occidental’s environmental reserves exceeded $10 million at 10 of the 169 sites described above, and 120 of the sites had reserves from $0 to $1 million each.  Occidental expects to expend funds corresponding to approximately half of the current environmental reserves over the next four years and the balance over the subsequent ten or more years.  Occidental believes its range of reasonably possible additional loss beyond those liabilities recorded for environmental remediation at the sites described above could be up to $380 million.  The status of Occidental’s involvement with the sites and related significant assumptions have not changed materially since December 31, 2010.  For management’s opinion with respect to environmental matters, refer to Note 8.