The following events were reported in the financial statements of large, publicly owned corporations. 

a. Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), previously a separate company that is now owned by BP America, sold or abandoned the entire noncoal minerals segment of its operations. In the year of disposal, this segment had an operating loss. ARCO also incurred a loss of $514 million on disposal of its noncoal minerals segment of the business. 

b. Union Carbide Corp., previously a separate company that became a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company, sustained a large loss as a result of an explosion of a chemical plant. 

c. Georgia-Pacific Corporation realized a $10 million gain as a result of condemnation proceedings in which a governmental agency purchased assets from the company in a “forced sale.” 

Instructions.

Indicate whether each event should be classified as a discontinued operation, an unusual and/or infrequent item, or in some other manner in each company’s income statement. Briefly explain your reasons for each answer.