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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
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12 Months Ended | |||||||||||||||
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Dec. 31, 2011
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| COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES [Abstract] | ||||||||||||||||
| COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | NOTE 14 COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES Hazardous Waste In connection with our waste management services, we handle 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 litigations. 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 affect on our financial position, liquidity or results of future operations. Earn-Out Amount – Perma-Fix Northwest, Inc. (“PFNW”) and Perma-Fix Northwest Richland, Inc. (“PFNWR”) In connection with the acquisition of PFNW and PFNWR in June 2007, we are required to pay to those former shareholders of Nuvotec (including Mr. Robert Ferguson, a member of our Board of Directors) an earn-out amount upon meeting certain conditions for each measurement year ended June 30, 2008 to June 30, 2011, with the aggregate of the full earn-out amount not to exceed $4,552,000, pursuant to the Merger Agreement, as amended (“Agreement”) (See “Related Party Transactions” in this section for further information regarding Mr. Ferguson). Under the Agreement, the earn-out amount to be paid for any particular measurement year is to be an amount equal to 10% of the amount that the revenues for our nuclear business (as defined) for such measurement year exceeds the budgeted amount of revenues for our nuclear business for that particular period. No earn-out was required to be paid for measurement year 2008, and we paid $734,000 in earn out for measurement year 2009 in 2009. We were required to pay $2,978,000 in earn-out prior to the Offset Amounts as discussed below for measurement year ended June 30, 2010. Pursuant to the Agreement, any indemnification obligations payable to the Company by the former shareholders of Nuvotec will be deducted (“Offset Amount”) from any earn-out amounts payable by the Company for the measurement year ended June 30, 2010 and June 30, 2011. Pursuant to the Agreement, the aggregate amount of any Offset Amount may total up to $1,000,000, except an Offset Amount is unlimited as to indemnification relating to liabilities for taxes, misrepresentation or inaccuracies with respect to the capitalization of Nuvotec or PEcoS (n/k/a “PFNWR”) or for willful or reckless misrepresentation of any representation, warranty or covenant. For the $2,978,000 in earn-out for measurement year ended June 30, 2010, we identified an Offset Amount of approximately $93,000 relating to an excise tax issue and a refund request from a PEcoS customer in connection with services for waste treatment prior to our acquisition of PFNWR and PFNW. We also identified an anticipated Offset Amount of $563,000 in connection with the receipt of nonconforming waste at the PFNWR facility prior to our acquisition of PFNWR and PFNW. We are currently involved in litigation with the party that delivered the nonconforming waste to the facility prior to our acquisition of PFNWR and PFNW. After the Offset Amount of $93,000 and the anticipated Offset Amount of $563,000, we were required to pay $2,322,000 in earn-out amount for measurement year ended June 30, 2010. In September 2010, we paid $1,000,000 of the $2,322,000 in earn-out amount, with the remaining $1,322,000 payable in a promissory note at an annual interest rate of 6.0%, as permitted under the Agreement, as amended. The promissory note provides for thirty six equal monthly payments of approximately $40,000, consisting of interest and principal, starting October 15, 2010. The promissory note may be prepaid at any time without penalty. For measurement year ended June 30, 2011, we determined that the remaining $840,000 in earn-out amount was earned, which we paid on October 3, 2011. Pension Liability We had a pension withdrawal liability of $533,000 at December 31, 2011, based upon a withdrawal letter received from Central States Teamsters Pension Fund (“CST”), resulting from the termination of the union employees at PFMI and a subsequent actuarial study performed. In August 2005, we received a demand letter from CST, amending the liability to $1,629,000, and provided for the payment of $22,000 per month, including interest at 8% per annum, over an eight year period. Insurance The Company has a 25-year finite risk insurance policy entered into in June 2003 with Chartis, a subsidiary of American International Group, Inc. (“AIG”), which provides financial assurance to the applicable states for our permitted facilities in the event of unforeseen closure. Prior to obtaining or renewing operating permits, we are required to provide financial assurance that guarantees to the states that in the event of closure, our permitted facilities will be closed in accordance with the regulations. The policy, as amended in 2009, 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. This finite risk insurance policy requires the following payments:
During February 2011, the $2,008,000 and the $1,073,000 installment payments which had remained payable on the closure policy were amended as follows: $1,004,000 was to be paid by February 2011, of which $991,000 was to be deposited into a sinking fund, with the remaining $13,000 representing a terrorism premium; $1,073,000 is payable December 2011, of which $888,000 is to be deposited into a sinking fund account, with the remaining representing a fee payable to Chartis; and a final payment of $1,054,000 due February 2012, of which $991,000 is to be deposited into a sinking fund, $13,000 representing a terrorism premium, and the remaining $50,000 representing a fee payable to Chartis. In February 2011, we paid the $1,004,000 under the amended terms. As a result of the revision to the payment terms, the maximum allowable coverage under this closure policy was revised to $36,431,000 as of February 2011, with such maximum allowable coverage increased to $37,300,000 in March 2011. The maximum allowable coverage is to be increased to $39,000,000 upon final payment of the $1,054,000 in February 2012. As of December 31, 2011, our total financial coverage amount under this policy totaled $36,541,000. We have recorded $13,473,000 in our sinking fund related to the policy noted above on the balance sheet, which includes interest earned of $881,000 on the sinking fund as of December 31, 2011. Interest income for the twelve months ended December 31, 2011, was approximately $34,000. On the fourth and subsequent anniversaries of the contract inception, we may elect to terminate this contract. If we so elect, Chartis is obligated to pay us an amount equal to 100% of the sinking fund account balance in return for complete releases of liability from both us and any applicable regulatory agency using this policy as an instrument to comply with financial assurance requirements. In August 2007, we entered into a second finite risk insurance policy for our PFNWR facility with Chartis. The policy provided an initial $7,800,000 of financial assurance coverage with an annual growth rate of 1.5%, which at the end of the four year term policy, provides maximum coverage of $8,200,000. We have the option to renew this policy at the end of the four year term. The policy requires total payments of $7,158,000, consisting of an initial payment of $1,363,000 ($1,106,000 represented premium on the policy and the remaining was deposited into a sinking fund account), two annual payments of $1,520,000 (for each annual payment, $1,344,000 was deposited into a sinking fund and the remaining represented premium), and an additional $2,755,000 payment (paid quarterly and all deposited into a sinking fund). We have made all of the payments. As of December 31, 2011, we have recorded $5,881,000 in our sinking fund related to this policy on the balance sheet, which includes interest earned of $181,000 on the sinking fund as of December 31, 2011. Interest income for the twelve months ended December 31, 2011 totaled approximately $17,000. On July 31, 2011, the policy was renewed for an additional year which required a $46,000 fee. We have the option to renew this policy annually going forward with a similar fee which will be determined at the time of renewal. All other terms of the policy remain substantially unchanged. Operating Leases We lease certain facilities and equipment under operating leases. Future minimum rental payments as of December 31, 2011, required under these leases for our continuing operations are $945,000 in 2012, $729,000 in 2013, $643,000 in 2014, $634,000 in 2015, $586,000 in 2016, and $611,000 in 2017. Future minimum rental payment as of December 31, 2011, required under leases for our discontinued operations is $5,000 in 2012. Total rent expense was $1,289,000, $1,025,000, and $1,076,000 for 2011, 2010, and 2009, respectively for our continuing operations. These amounts included payments on non-cancelable operating leases of approximately $762,000, $653,000, and $671,000 for 2011, 2010, and 2009, respectively. The remaining rent expense was for non-contractual monthly and daily rentals of specific use vehicles, machinery and equipment. Total rent expense was $239,000, $269,000, and $394,000 for 2011, 2010, and 2009, respectively for our discontinued operations. These amounts included payments on non-cancelable operating leases of approximately $135,000, $216,000, and $145,000, respectively. The remaining rent expense was for non-contractual monthly and daily rentals of specific use vehicles, machinery and equipment. |