Accrued Final Capping, Closure and Post Closure

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2015

Asset Retirement Obligation Disclosure [Abstract]

Accrued Final Capping, Closure and Post Closure

4.	ACCRUED FINAL CAPPING, CLOSURE AND POST CLOSURE

Accrued final capping, closure and post-closure costs include the current and non-current portion of costs associated with obligations for final capping, closure and post-closure of our landfills. We estimate our future final capping, closure and post-closure costs in order to determine the final capping, closure and post-closure expense per ton of waste placed into each landfill. The anticipated timeframe for paying these costs varies based on the remaining useful life of each landfill, as well as the duration of the post-closure monitoring period. The changes to accrued final capping, closure and post-closure liabilities for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014 are as follows:


	Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2015			2014
Beginning balance	$	39,829		$	46,326
Obligations incurred		1,971			2,496
Revisions in estimates (1)		—			(3,728	)
Accretion expense		2,513			2,671
Obligations settled (2)		(2,209	)		(3,822	)

Ending balance	$	42,104		$	43,943

(1)

The revisions in estimates for final capping, closure and post-closure costs consisted of changes in cost estimates and the timing of final capping and closure events, as well as changes to expansion airspace and tonnage placement assumptions as a result of our review of landfill asset retirement obligations.

(2)	Obligations settled include amounts that are being processed through accounts payable as a part of our disbursement cycle.