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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2019
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES From time to time, we are involved in legal proceedings that are incidental to the operation of our businesses. Some of these proceedings allege damages relating to asbestos and environmental exposures, intellectual property matters, copyright infringement, personal injury claims, employment and employee benefit matters, government contract issues and commercial or contractual disputes and acquisitions or divestitures. We will continue to defend vigorously against all claims. Although the ultimate outcome of any legal matter cannot be predicted with certainty, based on present information, including our assessment of the merits of the particular claim, as well as our current reserves and insurance coverage, we do not expect that such legal proceedings will have a material adverse impact on our financial statements, unless otherwise noted below. Asbestos Matters Subsidiaries of ITT, including ITT LLC and Goulds Pumps LLC, have been sued, along with many other companies in product liability lawsuits alleging personal injury due to asbestos exposure. These claims generally allege that certain products sold by our subsidiaries prior to 1985 contained a part manufactured by a third party (e.g., a gasket) which contained asbestos. To the extent these third-party parts may have contained asbestos, it was encapsulated in the gasket (or other) material and was non-friable. As of September 30, 2019, there were approximately 24 thousand pending claims against ITT subsidiaries, including Goulds Pumps LLC, filed in various state and federal courts alleging injury as a result of exposure to asbestos. Activity related to these asserted asbestos claims during the period was as follows:
Pending claims – Beginning | 24 |
New claims | 3 |
Settlements | (1 | )
Dismissals | (2 | )
Pending claims – Ending | 24 |
Frequently, plaintiffs are unable to identify any ITT LLC or Goulds Pumps LLC products as a source of asbestos exposure. Our experience to date is that a majority of resolved claims are dismissed without any payment from ITT subsidiaries. Management believes that a large majority of the pending claims have little or no value. In addition, because claims are sometimes dismissed in large groups, the average cost per resolved claim can fluctuate significantly from period to period. ITT expects more asbestos-related suits will be filed in the future, and ITT will continue to aggressively defend or seek a reasonable resolution, as appropriate. Asbestos litigation is a unique form of litigation. Frequently, the plaintiff sues a large number of defendants and does not state a specific claim amount. After filing a complaint, the plaintiff engages defendants in settlement negotiations to establish a settlement value based on certain criteria, including the number of defendants in the case. Rarely do the plaintiffs seek to collect all damages from one defendant. Rather, they seek to spread the liability, and thus the payments, among many defendants. As a result of this and other factors, the Company is unable to estimate the maximum potential exposure to pending claims and claims estimated to be filed over the next 10 years. Estimating our exposure to pending asbestos claims and those that may be filed in the future is subject to significant uncertainty and risk as there are multiple variables that can affect the timing, severity, quality, quantity and resolution of claims. Any predictions with respect to the variables impacting the estimate of the asbestos liability and related asset are subject to even greater uncertainty as the projection period lengthens. In light of the variables and uncertainties inherent in the long-term projection of the Company’s asbestos exposures, while it is probable that the Company will incur additional costs for asbestos claims filed beyond the next 10 years, which additional costs may be material, we do not believe there is a reasonable basis for estimating those costs at this time. The asbestos liability and related receivables reflect management’s best estimate of future events. However, future events affecting the key factors and other variables for either the asbestos liability or the related receivables could cause actual costs or recoveries to be materially higher or lower than currently estimated. Due to these uncertainties, as well as our inability to reasonably estimate any additional asbestos liability for claims which may be filed beyond the next 10 years, it is difficult to predict the ultimate cost of resolving all pending and unasserted asbestos claims. We believe it is possible that future events affecting the key factors and other variables within the next 10 years, as well as the cost of asbestos claims filed beyond the next 10 years, net of expected recoveries, could have a material adverse effect on our financial statements. Income Statement Costs/Benefit In the third quarter of each year, we conduct our annual remeasurement with the assistance of outside consultants in order to review and update the underlying assumptions used in our asbestos liability and related asset estimates. In each remeasurement, the underlying assumptions are updated based on our actual experience since our previous annual remeasurement, and we reassess the appropriate reference period used in determining each assumption and our expectations regarding future conditions, including inflation. Based on the results of this study, in the third quarter of 2019, we decreased our estimated undiscounted asbestos liability, including legal fees, by $4.5, reflecting a decrease in costs the company estimates will be incurred to resolve all pending claims, as well as unasserted claims estimated to be filed over the next 10 years. The decrease in our estimated liability is a result of several developments, primarily favorable experience in dismissal rates and a decrease in the number of cases expected to be adjudicated, partially offset by an increase in settlement values. Further, in the third quarter of 2019, the Company increased its estimated asbestos-related assets by $63.6, primarily due to an increase in insurance recoveries since a recent favorable court ruling. In addition to the charges associated with our annual remeasurement, we record a net asbestos charge each quarter to maintain a rolling 10-year forecast period. The table below summarizes the total net asbestos charges for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018.
| Three Months |  | Nine Months
For the Periods Ended September 30 | 2019 |  | 2018 |  | 2019 |  | 2018
Asbestos provision | $ | 11.9 |  |  | $ | 13.4 |  |  | $ | 36.3 |  |  | $ | 39.3 |
Net asbestos remeasurement (benefit) cost | (68.1 | ) |  | 7.2 |  |  | (68.1 | ) |  | 7.2 |
Insurance settlement agreements(a) | — |  |  | (24.9 | ) |  | — |  |  | (57.0 | )
Asbestos-related benefit, net | $ | (56.2 | ) |  | $ | (4.3 | ) |  | $ | (31.8 | ) |  | $ | (10.5 | )
(a) | During 2018, we entered into a settlement agreement and a settlement-in-principle with insurers to settle responsibility for multiple insurance claims. Under the terms of the agreements, the insurers agreed to upfront payments to a Qualified Settlement Fund for past costs in addition to providing coverage for certain future asbestos claims on specified terms and conditions.
Changes in Financial Position The Company's estimated asbestos exposure, net of expected recoveries for the resolution of all pending claims and claims estimated to be filed in the next 10 years was $420.7 and $472.6 as of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018. The following table provides a rollforward of the estimated asbestos liability and related assets for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018.
| 2019 |  | 2018
For the Nine Months Ended September 30 | Liability |  | Asset |  | Net |  | Liability |  | Asset |  | Net
Beginning balance | $ | 849.3 |  |  | $ | 376.7 |  |  | $ | 472.6 |  |  | $ | 877.2 |  |  | $ | 368.7 |  |  | $ | 508.5 |
Asbestos provision(a) | 45.1 |  |  | 8.8 |  |  | 36.3 |  |  | 48.5 |  |  | 9.2 |  |  | 39.3 |
Asbestos remeasurement | (4.5 | ) |  | 63.6 |  |  | (68.1 | ) |  | (8.6 | ) |  | (15.8 | ) |  | 7.2 |
Insurance settlement agreement | — |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 57.0 |  |  | (57.0 | )
Net cash activity(a) | (62.1 | ) |  | (42.0 | ) |  | (20.1 | ) |  | (72.0 | ) |  | (29.7 | ) |  | (42.3 | )
Ending balance | $ | 827.8 |  |  | $ | 407.1 |  |  | $ | 420.7 |  |  | $ | 845.1 |  |  | $ | 389.4 |  |  | $ | 455.7 |
Current portion | $ | 86.2 |  |  | $ | 77.1 |  |  |  |  | $ | 73.3 |  |  | $ | 67.1 |  |  |
Noncurrent portion | $ | 741.6 |  |  | $ | 330.0 |  |  |  |  |  | $ | 771.8 |  |  | $ | 322.3 |  |  |
(a) | Includes certain administrative costs such as legal-related costs for insurance asset recoveries.
Environmental Matters In the ordinary course of business, we are subject to federal, state, local, and foreign environmental laws and regulations. We are responsible, or are alleged to be responsible, for ongoing environmental investigation and site remediation. These sites are in various stages of investigation or remediation and in many of these proceedings our liability is considered de minimis. We have received notification from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and from similar state and foreign environmental agencies, that a number of sites formerly or currently owned or operated by ITT, and other properties or water supplies that may be or have been impacted from those operations, contain disposed or recycled materials or wastes and require environmental investigation or remediation. These sites include instances where we have been identified as a potentially responsible party under federal and state environmental laws and regulations. The following table provides a rollforward of the estimated environmental liability for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018.
For the Nine Months Ended September 30 | 2019 |  | 2018
Environmental liability - beginning balance | $ | 66.8 |  |  | $ | 73.9 |
Change in estimates for pre-existing accruals | 0.2 |  |  | 3.4 |
Accruals added during the period for new matters | — |  |  | 2.0 |
Payments(a) | (4.4 | ) |  | (14.6 | )
Foreign currency | (0.2 | ) |  | 0.1 |
Environmental liability - ending balance | $ | 62.4 |  |  | $ | 64.8 |
(a) | Includes cash payments of $9.7 for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 related to the sale of a former operating location.
Environmental-related assets, representing estimated recoveries from insurance providers and other third parties, were $22.1 and $23.3 as of September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively. We are currently involved with 29 active environmental investigation and remediation sites. At September 30, 2019, we have estimated the potential high-end liability range of environmental-related matters to be $109.0. As actual costs incurred at identified sites in future periods may vary from our current estimates given the inherent uncertainties in evaluating environmental exposures, management believes it is possible that the outcome of these uncertainties may have a material adverse effect on our financial statements. Other Matters In the second quarter of 2019, the Company settled a civil matter with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) related to an investigation that began in 2015 involving certain connector products manufactured by the Company’s Connect & Control Technologies segment that are purchased or used by the U.S. government. The Company paid $11 to DOJ, acting on behalf of the U.S. government, to settle this matter and avoid the expense and uncertainty of litigation. The Company also received a related insurance recovery of $1.

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