Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Commitments and Contingencies

v3.19.2
Commitments and Contingencies
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2019
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies
10. Commitments and Contingencies

 

Hazardous Waste

 

In connection with our waste management services, we process both hazardous and non-hazardous waste, which we transport to our own, or other, facilities for destruction or disposal. As a result of disposing of hazardous substances, in the event any cleanup is required, we could be a potentially responsible party for the costs of the cleanup notwithstanding any absence of fault on our part.

 

Legal Matters

 

In the normal course of conducting our business, we are involved in various litigation. We are not a party to any litigation or governmental proceeding which our management believes could result in any judgments or fines against us that would have a material adverse effect on our financial position, liquidity or results of future operations.

 

Insurance

 

The Company has a 25-year finite risk insurance policy entered into in June 2003 (“2003 Closure Policy”) with AIG, which provides financial assurance to the applicable states for our permitted facilities in the event of unforeseen closure. The 2003 Closure Policy, as amended, provides for a maximum allowable coverage of $39,000,000 and has available capacity to allow for annual inflation and other performance and surety bond requirements. At June 30, 2019, our financial assurance coverage amount under this 2003 Closure Policy totaled approximately $30,549,000. The Company had contributed $16,159,000 and $15,971,000 in finite risk sinking funds (“sinking funds”) related to this policy in other long term assets on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets at June 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively, which includes interest earned of $1,688,000 and $1,500,000 on the sinking funds as of June 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively (see a discussion of the subsequent reclassification of $5,000,000 in sinking funds at June 30, 2019 to sinking funds receivable in current assets on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets at June 30, 2019 below). Interest income for the three and six months ended June 30, 2019 was approximately $107,000 and $188,000, respectively. Interest income for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 was approximately $81,000 and $131,000, respectively. If the Company so elects, AIG is obligated to pay the Company an amount equal to 100% of the sinking fund account balance in return for complete release of liability from both us and any applicable regulatory agency using this policy as an instrument to comply with financial assurance requirements.

 

As previously discussed, the Company had been working with AIG and certain government regulators which would allow for the release of approximately $5,000,000 of the sinking funds held as collateral under the 2003 Closure Policy upon closure of the M&EC facility. On July 22, 2019, the Company received $5,000,000 of the sinking funds. Accordingly, at June 30, 2019, the Company reclassified $5,000,000 of the $16,159,000 in sinking funds initially included in other long term assets on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets to sinking funds (restricted cash) included in current assets on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets (See “Note 14 – Subsequent Events – 2003 Closure Policy” for a discussion of the release of the sinking funds by AIG and certain amendment made to the 2003 Closure Policy).

 

Letter of Credits and Bonding Requirements

 

From time to time, the Company is required to post standby letters of credit and various bonds to support contractual obligations to customers and other obligations, including facility closures. At June 30, 2019, the total amount of standby letters of credit outstanding totaled approximately $2,639,000 and the total amount of bonds outstanding totaled approximately $29,465,000.