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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2024
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES Certain of our aggregates reserves are burdened by volumetric production payments (nonoperating interest) as described in Note 4. As the holder of the operating interest, we have responsibility to bear the cost of mining and producing the reserves attributable to this nonoperating interest. As stated in Note 2, our lease liabilities totaled $575.4 million as of September 30, 2024. As summarized by purpose in Note 7, our standby letters of credit totaled $95.2 million as of September 30, 2024. As described in Note 9, our asset retirement obligations totaled $346.5 million as of September 30, 2024. LITIGATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS We are subject to occasional governmental proceedings and orders pertaining to occupational safety and health or to protection of the environment, such as proceedings or orders relating to noise abatement, air emissions or water discharges. As part of our continuing program of stewardship in safety, health and environmental matters, we have been able to resolve such proceedings and to comply with such orders without any material adverse effects on our business. We have received notices from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or similar state or local agencies that we are considered a potentially responsible party (PRP) at a limited number of sites under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund) or similar state and local environmental laws. Generally, we share the cost of remediation at these sites with other PRPs or alleged PRPs in accordance with negotiated or prescribed allocations. There is inherent uncertainty in determining the potential cost of remediating a given site and in determining any individual party's share in that cost. As a result, estimates can change substantially as additional information becomes available regarding the nature or extent of site contamination, remediation methods, other PRPs and their probable level of involvement, and actions by or against governmental agencies or private parties. We have reviewed the nature and extent of our involvement at each Superfund site, as well as potential obligations arising under other federal, state and local environmental laws. While ultimate resolution and financial liability is uncertain at a number of the sites, in our opinion, based on information currently available, the ultimate resolution of claims and assessments related to these sites will not have a material effect on our consolidated results of operations, financial position or cash flows, although amounts recorded in a given period could be material to our results of operations or cash flows for that period. Amounts accrued for environmental matters (measured on an undiscounted basis) are presented below:
in millions | September 30 2024 | December 31 2023 | September 30 2023
Continuing operations | $ | 33.4 |  | $ | 32.6 |  | $ | 32.7 |
Retained from former Chemicals business | 8.2 |  | 8.3 |  | 8.3 |
Total accrued environmental remediation costs | $ | 41.6 |  | $ | 40.9 |  | $ | 41.0 |
We are a defendant in various lawsuits in the ordinary course of business. It is not possible to determine with precision the outcome, or the amount of liability, if any, under these lawsuits, especially where the cases involve possible jury trials with as yet undetermined jury panels. In addition to these lawsuits in which we are involved in the ordinary course of business, certain other material legal proceedings are more specifically described below: ▪LOWER PASSAIC RIVER STUDY AREA (DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS and SUPERFUND SITE) — The Lower Passaic River Study Area is part of the Diamond Shamrock Superfund Site in New Jersey. Vulcan and approximately 70 other companies are parties (collectively the Cooperating Parties Group, CPG) to a May 2007 Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) with the EPA to perform a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (draft RI/FS) of the lower 17 miles of the Passaic River (River). The draft RI/FS was submitted recommending a targeted hot spot remedy; however, the EPA issued a record of decision (ROD) in March 2016 that calls for a bank-to-bank dredging remedy for the lower 8 miles of the River. The EPA estimates that the cost of implementing this proposal is $1.38 billion. In September 2016, the EPA entered into an Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order on Consent with Occidental Chemical Corporation (Occidental) in which Occidental agreed to undertake the remedial design for this bank-to-bank dredging remedy and to reimburse the United States for certain response costs. Efforts to investigate and remediate the River have been underway for many years and have involved hundreds of entities that have had operations on or near the River at some point during the past several decades. We formerly owned a chemicals operation near the mouth of the River, which was sold in 1974. The major risk drivers in the River have been identified to include dioxins, PCBs, DDx and mercury. We did not manufacture any of these risk drivers and have no evidence that any of these were discharged into the River by Vulcan. In August 2017, the EPA informed certain members of the CPG, including Vulcan and others, that it planned to use the services of a third-party allocator with the expectation of offering cash-out settlements to some parties in connection with the bank-to-bank remedy identified in the ROD. This voluntary allocation process established an impartial third-party expert recommendation for use by the government and the participants as the basis of possible settlements, including settlements related to future remediation actions. The final allocation recommendations, which are subject to confidentiality provisions, were submitted to the EPA for its review and consideration in late December 2020. Certain PRPs, including Vulcan, thereafter received a joint confidential settlement demand from the EPA/Department of Justice (DOJ). Vulcan and certain of the other PRPs that received the joint confidential settlement demand (the Settling Defendants) reached an agreement to settle with the EPA/DOJ and negotiated a Consent Decree. The Consent Decree has been lodged with the court. Vulcan’s portion of the settlement is within the immaterial loss recorded for this matter in 2015. In July 2018, Vulcan, along with more than 100 other defendants, was sued by Occidental in United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, Newark Vicinage. Occidental is seeking cost recovery and contribution under CERCLA for costs related to the River. This lawsuit is currently stayed pending adjudication of the Consent Decree. In another related proceeding, Occidental filed a lawsuit in March 2023 against Vulcan and 39 other defendants in United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, Newark Vicinage seeking cost recovery and contribution under CERCLA for costs related to the upper 9 miles of the River. It is unknown at this time how the settlement and approval of the Consent Decree with the EPA/DOJ would affect the Occidental lawsuits. ▪TEXAS BRINE MATTER (DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS) — During operation of its former Chemicals Division, Vulcan leased the right to mine salt out of an underground salt dome formation in Assumption Parish, Louisiana from 1976 - 2005. Throughout that period, Texas Brine Company (Texas Brine) was the operator contracted by Vulcan to mine and deliver the salt as brine. We sold our Chemicals Division in 2005 and transferred our rights and interests related to the salt and mining operations to the purchaser, a subsidiary of Occidental Chemical Company (Occidental), and we have had no association with the leased premises or Texas Brine since that time. In August 2012, a sinkhole developed in the vicinity of the Texas Brine mining operations. Numerous lawsuits were filed thereafter in state court in Assumption Parish, Louisiana. Other lawsuits, including class action litigation, were filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans. In these lawsuits, the main plaintiffs sued numerous defendants, including Texas Brine, Occidental and Vulcan, alleging various damages including, but not limited to, property damages; a claim by the State of Louisiana for response costs and civil penalties; physical damages to oil and gas pipelines and storage facilities (pipelines); and business interruption losses. All such claims have been settled except for the claims by the State of Louisiana. Our insurers to date have funded these settlements in excess of our self-insured retention amount. Additionally, Texas Brine, Occidental and Vulcan sued each other in various state and federal court forums. Vulcan and Occidental have since dismissed all of their claims against one another; Texas Brine and Occidental have settled their claims against each other; and Texas Brine’s and Vulcan’s claims against each other are pending in state and federal court. In general, Texas Brine alleges that the sinkhole was caused, in whole or in part, by our negligent or fraudulent actions or failure to act; that we breached the salt lease with Occidental, as well as an operating agreement and related contracts with Texas Brine; that we were strictly liable for certain property damages in our capacity as a former lessee of the salt lease; and that we violated the agreement under which we sold our Chemicals Division to Occidental. Texas Brine’s claims against Vulcan include claims for past and future response costs, lost profits and investment costs, indemnity payments, attorneys’ fees, other litigation costs, and judicial interests. Texas Brine also recently filed a lawsuit against Vulcan seeking indemnity for potential exposure Texas Brine may have to Occidental in the related arbitration, the State of Louisiana, and for ongoing and future Louisiana regulatory matters. In August 2022, we removed the lawsuit to federal court. The state court held a joint bench trial (judge only) in 2017 in three cases brought by pipeline companies claiming damages to their facilities as a result of the sinkhole. This “Phase 1” trial was limited in scope to comparative fault and liability for causing the sinkhole. In December 2017, the trial court issued a ruling allocating fault as follows: Occidental 50%, Texas Brine (and its wholly-owned subsidiary) 35% and Vulcan 15%. In December 2020, the Louisiana Court of Appeal, First Circuit reversed the judgment in part in one of the three jointly tried cases, allocating 55% of the fault to Texas Brine (and its wholly-owned subsidiary); 30% to Occidental; and affirming the 15% fault allocation to Vulcan. In May 2021 and April 2022, the Court of Appeal issued judgments in the other two pipeline cases, adopting the same fault allocation. The Louisiana Supreme Court has declined to review the judgments, resulting in final judgments regarding fault allocations in those matters. In the second quarter of 2022, we recorded an immaterial loss related to the claims brought by Texas Brine. In August 2022, Vulcan and Texas Brine commenced a joint “Phase 2” bench trial in the same three pipeline cases where fault was allocated. Prior to trial, the trial court granted various motions by Vulcan seeking dismissal of Texas Brine’s contract-based claims and hundreds of millions of dollars in alleged damages. Thus, the Phase 2 trial addressed the claims that remained pending between Texas Brine and Vulcan after that motion practice. During the Phase 2 trial, Texas Brine and Vulcan reached a negotiated joint stipulation as to the amount of Texas Brine’s damages for its surviving tort claims at issue in the trial. After applying Vulcan’s 15% fault allocation, Vulcan’s stipulated financial responsibility for the damages at issue in the trial is within the immaterial loss recorded during the second quarter of 2022. I n December 2022, the trial court entered a judgment in the pipeline cases reflecting this stipulation. Texas Brine moved to assess all trial costs against Vulcan. Texas Brine and Vulcan thereafter reached a settlement, wherein Vulcan agreed to pay a portion of Texas Brine's trial costs, the amount of which was within the remaining immaterial loss recorded in the second quarter of 2022. The December 2022 Phase 2 judgment did not address numerous of Texas Brine’s claims seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages that were dismissed prior to trial. Texas Brine has appealed those judgments. We cannot at this time reasonably estimate the range of liability, if any, that could result if an appellate court reverses any of the trial court’s decisions. At this time, we also cannot reasonably estimate a range of liability pertaining to the claims brought by the State of Louisiana. ▪1,1,1-TRICHLOROETHANE LITIGATION (DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS) — During the operation of our former Chemicals Division, which was divested to Occidental in 2005, Vulcan manufactured a chlorinated solvent known as 1,1,1-trichloroethane. Vulcan faces liabilities related to 1,1,1-trichloroethane stabilized with 1,4-dioxane ("TCA"). We are one of the defendants in cases filed in both state and federal courts, including one case filed by the State of New Jersey. According to the various complaints, the plaintiffs seek damages including, but not limited to, unspecified compensatory damages associated with the remediation of water wells allegedly contaminated with 1,4-dioxane, natural resource damages, disgorgement of profits from the sale of TCA, punitive damages, as well as penalties and attorney's fees under various statutes. We will vigorously defend these cases on substantive and procedural grounds. At this time, we cannot determine the likelihood of loss, or reasonably estimate a range of loss, if any, pertaining to the above-referenced cases. ▪HEWITT LANDFILL MATTER (SUPERFUND SITE) — In September 2015, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) issued a Cleanup and Abatement Order directing Calmat Co., a Vulcan subsidiary (hereinafter "Vulcan") to assess, monitor, cleanup, and abate wastes that have been discharged to soil, soil vapor, and/or groundwater at the former Hewitt Landfill in Los Angeles. Following an onsite and offsite investigation and pilot scale testing, the RWQCB approved a corrective action that includes leachate recovery, storm water capture and conveyance improvements, and a groundwater pump, treat and reinjection system. Certain on-site source control measures have been implemented, and the new treatment system is fully operational. Currently-anticipated costs of these on-site source control activities have been fully accrued. We are also engaged in an ongoing dialogue with the EPA, Honeywell, and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) regarding the potential contribution of the Hewitt Landfill to groundwater contamination in the North Hollywood Operable Unit (NHOU) of the San Fernando Valley Superfund Site. The EPA and Vulcan entered into an AOC and Statement of Work having an effective date of September 2017 for the design of two extraction wells south of the Hewitt Landfill to protect the North Hollywood West (NHW) well field located within the NHOU. In November 2017, we submitted a Pre-Design Investigation (PDI) Work Plan to the EPA, which sets forth the activities and schedule for collection of data in support of our evaluation of the need for an offsite remedy. In addition, this evaluation was expanded as part of the PDI to include the evaluation of a remedy in light of LADWP’s Rinaldi-Toluca (RT) wellfield project. PDI investigative activities were completed between the first and third quarters of 2018, and in December 2018 we submitted a Draft PDI Evaluation Report to the EPA. The Draft PDI Evaluation Report summarizes data collection activities conducted pursuant to the Draft PDI Work Plan and provides model updates and evaluation of remediation alternatives for offsite areas. The EPA provided a final set of comments to the Draft PDI Evaluation Report in October 2020. The final set of comments included a request that Vulcan revise and develop a final PDI Evaluation Report. The final comments further provided a proposal for an alternative approach for offsite remediation (as opposed to installation of offsite extraction wells) and development of a Supplemental PDI Evaluation Report (Supplemental Report) that would require the EPA to modify the remedy in the record of decision as it relates to the Hewitt Landfill. In December 2020, we submitted the Final PDI Evaluation Report, which included responses to the EPA’s comments. At the EPA's request, we submitted a Supplemental Report in March 2023 and an Alternative Design Work Plan (ADWP) in May 2023. Similar to the PDI Evaluation Report, the Supplemental Report and ADWP identified expansion of the onsite Hewitt remedy in conjunction with the offsite treatment being performed by LADWP as the preferred option for addressing contamination in offsite areas, instead of the two wells proposed by the EPA. In conjunction with its review of the Supplemental Report, the EPA held an initial meeting with stakeholders, including LADWP, in November 2023 and has requested additional meetings to determine a path forward. In December 2019, Honeywell agreed with LADWP to build a water treatment system (often referred to as the Cooperative Containment Concept or CCC or the second interim remedy) that will provide treated groundwater in the NHOU to LADWP for public water supply purposes. Honeywell contends that some of the contamination to be remediated by the treatment system it is building originated from the Hewitt Landfill and that Vulcan should fund some portion of the costs that Honeywell has incurred and will incur in developing and implementing the second interim remedy. During the fourth quarter of 2021, we completed a partial settlement with Honeywell related to certain of the costs that Honeywell has incurred for an immaterial amount. In March 2023, Honeywell filed a lawsuit against Vulcan and a third party alleging that Honeywell has incurred more than $11 million in costs to resolve its liability to the EPA and that it estimates that it will spend in excess of $100 million to construct and operate its water treatment system. Honeywell seeks an "equitable share of necessary response costs" from the defendants. Discussions are ongoing with Honeywell regarding the reasonable costs Honeywell has incurred. We are also gathering and analyzing data and developing technical information to determine the extent of possible contribution by the Hewitt Landfill to the groundwater contamination in the area. Based on this technical information, we have accrued an immaterial amount for our contribution of costs anticipated to be incurred by Honeywell. This work is also intended to assist in identification of other PRPs that may have contributed to groundwater contamination in the area. Further, LADWP is constructing two new production and treatment facilities at city wellfields located near the Hewitt Landfill — the NHW wellfield and the RT wellfield (also referred to as the NHW treatment system and North Hollywood Central (NHC) treatment system, respectively). LADWP has alleged that the Hewitt Landfill is one of the primary sources of contamination at the NHW treatment system and one of the sources of contamination at the NHC treatment system. According to information available on the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) website, the capital cost of the NHW treatment system is estimated at $92 million, and the capital cost of the NHC treatment system is estimated at $245 million. The systems are expected to commence operations in 2024 for NHW and 2025 for NHC and will thereafter incur costs for operation and maintenance. LADWP has applied for and received substantial funding to contribute to both treatment systems from grants of Proposition 1 bond funding from the SWRCB. According to information available on the SWRCB website, the bond money obtained for the NHW treatment system is $46 million, and the bond money obtained for the NHC treatment system is $95 million. We anticipate continued discussions with LADWP regarding its potential claims. In conjunction with those discussions, we are engaging in further efforts to gather and analyze records and data in order to assess the extent of possible contribution by the Hewitt Landfill to the groundwater contamination in the area, consistent with the parallel request by the EPA, and the reasonableness of LADWP’s remediation efforts. This work is also intended to assist in identification of other PRPs that may have contributed to groundwater contamination in the area of the NHW and RT wellfields. Together, these efforts will allow us to analyze our anticipated equitable contribution to LADWP’s remediation efforts. Among other factors, we anticipate that any equitable contribution should take into account the on-site source control and other measures implemented by Vulcan at the former Hewitt Landfill, the relative contribution and duration of any contaminants originating from the Hewitt Landfill to the LADWP systems, and the cost effectiveness of the LADWP systems. At this time, we cannot reasonably estimate a range of a loss to Vulcan pertaining to LADWP’s potential contribution claim. ▪NAFTA ARBITRATION — In September 2018, our subsidiary Legacy Vulcan, LLC (Legacy Vulcan), on its own behalf, and on behalf of our Mexican subsidiary Calizas Industriales del Carmen, S.A. de C.V. (Calica), served the United Mexican States (Mexico) a Notice of Intent to Submit a Claim to Arbitration under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). This NAFTA claim relates to the treatment of a portion of our quarrying operations in Quintana Roo, Mexico arising from, among other measures, Mexico’s failure to comply with a legally binding zoning agreement and relates to other unfair, arbitrary and capricious actions by Mexico’s environmental enforcement agency. We assert that these actions are in breach of Mexico’s international obligations under NAFTA and international law. As required by Article 1118 of NAFTA, we sought to settle this dispute with Mexico through consultations. Notwithstanding our good faith efforts to resolve the dispute amicably, we were unable to do so and filed a Request for Arbitration with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in December 2018. In January 2019, ICSID registered our Request for Arbitration. A hearing on the merits took place in July 2021. While we awaited the final resolution from the tribunal, we continued to engage with government officials to pursue an amicable resolution of the dispute. On May 5, 2022, Mexican government officials unexpectedly and arbitrarily shut down Calica’s remaining operations in Mexico. On May 8, 2022, Legacy Vulcan filed an application in the NAFTA arbitration seeking provisional measures and leave to file an ancillary claim in connection with this latest shutdown (see Part I, Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Known Trends or Uncertainties). In July 2022, the NAFTA arbitration tribunal granted Legacy Vulcan’s application and ordered Mexico not to take any action that might further aggravate the dispute between the parties or render the resolution of the dispute potentially more difficult. A hearing on the merits of the ancillary claim took place in August 2023. We expect that the NAFTA arbitration tribunal will issue a decision on the claim and ancillary claim by the end of the first quarter of 2025. At this time, there can be no assurance whether we will be successful in our NAFTA claim and ancillary claim, and we cannot quantify the amount we may recover, if any, under this arbitration proceeding if we are successful. It is not possible to predict the ultimate outcome of these and other legal proceedings in which we are involved, and a number of factors, including developments in ongoing discovery or adverse rulings, or the verdict of a particular jury, could cause actual losses to differ materially from accrued costs. No liability was recorded for claims and litigation for which a loss was determined to be only reasonably possible or for which a loss could not be reasonably estimated. Legal costs incurred in defense of lawsuits are expensed as incurred. In addition, losses on certain claims and litigation described above may be subject to limitations on a per occurrence basis by excess insurance, as described in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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