LOS ANGELES, June 8, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- OxyVinyls, LP has voluntarily entered into an enforceable consent agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the State of New Jersey and the Louisville (Kentucky) Metropolitan Air Pollution Control District to reduce by almost 50 percent the combined vinyl chloride emissions from four OxyVinyls manufacturing facilities. The agreement, in the form of a consent decree, also resolves several contested compliance allegations.
Vinyl chloride emissions from OxyVinyls' facilities are currently well below permitted levels. Despite this, state and federal agencies raised concerns about emissions from vinyl chloride facilities nationwide. To address these concerns, OxyVinyls approached the agencies with a proposal that would further reduce vinyl chloride emissions.
Under the agreement, OxyVinyls will undertake emission reduction projects at the following facilities at a cost of approximately $1.1 million. These projects include:
* Pasadena and Deer Park, Texas: redesigning stripper columns
which are expected to reduce overall emissions by more than
50 percent;
* Louisville, Kentucky: installing a vacuum system associated
with the railcar unloading process, reducing loading emissions
by approximately 30 percent;
* Pedricktown, New Jersey: redesigning reactor vessels to reduce
associated vinyl chloride emissions.
OxyVinyls agreed to several additional measures that will assure its continued compliance with complex environmental laws and permits and paid fines of approximately $340,000 to resolve several alleged violations not related to vinyl chloride emissions. Most of the allegations arose from self-disclosed internal audit results, although the agencies visited each facility to verify OxyVinyls' compliance performance.
OxyVinyls, LP is a majority-owned venture of Occidental Chemical Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY).
Forward Looking Statements
Statements in this release that contain words such as "will," "expect" or "estimate," or otherwise relate to the future, are forward-looking and involve risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect expected results. Factors that could cause results to differ materially include, but are not limited to: global commodity pricing fluctuations, changes in tax rates, supply/demand consideration for oil, gas and chemicals; higher-than-expected costs; and not successfully completing (or any material delay in) any expansion, capital expenditure, acquisition, or disposition. Occidental disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.