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Commitments and Contingencies | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2012
Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block] | Commitments and Contingencies. Investment Exit Facility In connection with Tropicana's completion of the Restructuring Transactions (see Note 2, “Operating Units-Gaming”), Tropicana entered into the Exit Facility, as amended, which consists of a (i) $130 million Term Loan Facility issued at a discount of 7%, which was funded on March 8, 2010, the Effective Date and (ii) $20 million Revolving Facility. Each of the Investment Funds was a lender under the Exit Facility and, in the aggregate, held over 50% of the loans under the Term Loan Facility and was obligated to provide 100% of any amounts borrowed by Tropicana under the Revolving Facility. As described in Note 2, on June 30, 2011, the Investment Funds made a distribution-in-kind of their investment in the Exit Facility to us and as a result we became the lenders under the Exit Facility. As further discussed in Note 10, "Debt," in March 2012, Tropicana paid in full the remaining amounts outstanding under the Exit Facility and the Revolving Facility was canceled therewith. Dynegy Inc. On November 4, 2011, Resources Capital Management Corp., Roseton OL, LLC, and Danskammer OL, LLC, filed an action in Supreme Court of New York, New York County, against Dynegy Inc. ("Dynegy"), various affiliates of Dynegy, certain members of the Board of Directors of Dynegy, and various other defendants, including Icahn Capital LP ("Icahn Capital"). The plaintiffs are seeking an unspecified amount of damages for alleged breaches of fiduciary obligation, as well as declaratory and other equitable relief regarding certain notes and related contracts. Icahn Capital is named as a defendant and is being sued for allegedly aiding and abetting Dynegy and its directors in the alleged breaches of fiduciary obligation, tortious interference, and unjust enrichment. None of the defendants, including Icahn Capital, has filed any response to the Complaint, as the action is subject to the automatic stay pursuant to the bankruptcy of Dynegy Holdings, LLC, one of the defendants. The Court issued a formal stay order on February 29, 2012. In addition, the plaintiffs have informed the Court that the proposed Plan of Reorganization in the pending bankruptcy, if confirmed, will result in dismissal of all of the claims of the Complaint, including the claims against Icahn Capital. If the proposed plan of reorganization is not confirmed or does not result in dismissal of the claims, because of the early stage of the litigation, it is not possible to evaluate the outcome. However, Icahn Capital believes it has meritorious defenses to the claims asserted against it. Automotive Environmental Matters Federal-Mogul is a defendant in lawsuits filed, or the recipient of administrative orders issued or demand letters received, in various jurisdictions pursuant to the Federal Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (“CERCLA”) or other similar national, provincial or state environmental remedial laws. These laws provide that responsible parties may be liable to pay for remediating contamination resulting from hazardous substances that were discharged into the environment by them, by prior owners or occupants of property they currently own or operate, or by others to whom they sent such substances for treatment or other disposition at third party locations. Federal-Mogul has been notified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, other national environmental agencies, and various provincial and state agencies that it may be a potentially responsible party (“PRP”) under such laws for the cost of remediating hazardous substances pursuant to CERCLA and other national and state or provincial environmental laws. PRP designation often results in the funding of site investigations and subsequent remedial activities. Many of the sites that are likely to be the costliest to remediate are often current or former commercial waste disposal facilities to which numerous companies sent wastes. Despite the potential joint and several liability which might be imposed on Federal-Mogul under CERCLA and some of the other laws pertaining to these sites, its share of the total waste sent to these sites has generally been small. Federal-Mogul believes its exposure for liability at these sites is limited. Federal-Mogul has also identified certain other present and former properties at which it may be responsible for cleaning up or addressing environmental contamination, in some cases as a result of contractual commitments and/or federal or state environmental laws. Federal-Mogul is actively seeking to resolve these actual and potential statutory, regulatory and contractual obligations. Although difficult to quantify based on the complexity of the issues, Federal-Mogul has accrued amounts corresponding to its best estimate of the costs associated with such regulatory and contractual obligations on the basis of available information from site investigations and best professional judgment of consultants. Total environmental liabilities, determined on an undiscounted basis, were $16 million at both March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, and are included in accrued expenses and other liabilities in our consolidated balance sheets. Federal-Mogul believes that recorded environmental liabilities will be adequate to cover its estimated liability for its exposure in respect to such matters. In the event that such liabilities were to significantly exceed the amounts recorded by Federal-Mogul, our Automotive segment's results of operations could be materially affected. At March 31, 2012, Federal-Mogul estimates reasonably possible material additional losses, above and beyond its best estimate of required remediation costs as recorded, to approximate $42 million. Asset Retirement Obligations Federal-Mogul has identified sites with contractual obligations and several sites that are closed or expected to be closed and sold. In connection with these sites, Federal-Mogul has accrued $22 million at both March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011 for ARO, primarily related to anticipated costs of removing hazardous building materials, and has considered impairment issues that may result from capitalization of these ARO amounts. Federal-Mogul has conditional asset retirement obligations ("CARO"), primarily related to removal costs of hazardous materials in buildings, for which it believes reasonable cost estimates cannot be made at this time because it does not believe it has a reasonable basis to assign probabilities to a range of potential settlement dates for these retirement obligations. Accordingly, Federal-Mogul is currently unable to determine amounts to accrue for CARO at such sites. Gaming Aztar v. Marsh Aztar filed a broker malpractice and breach of contract action in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Atlantic County, Law Division (the “Court”) on August 12, 2010, against Marsh & McLennan Companies, Marsh, Inc., Marsh USA, Inc. and various fictitious Marsh entities (together, the "Marsh Defendants"). The claim seeks $100 million or more in compensatory damages against the Marsh Defendants, Aztar's risk management and insurance brokers at the time of a 2002 expansion of Tropicana AC by Aztar, including, but not limited to, lost profits, expenses arising from the interruption of operations, attorneys' fees, loss of the use of the insurance proceeds at issue, and litigation expenses resulting from the Marsh Defendants' failure to secure for Aztar business interruption and property damage coverage covering losses sustained by Aztar from the collapse of a parking garage that occurred at Tropicana AC on October 30, 2003. The Marsh Defendants filed an answer on October 20, 2010 denying the material allegations of the complaint and subsequently filed a Motion to Dismiss for Forum Non Conveniens in December 2010, which motion was denied by the Court on April 12, 2011. On August 18, 2011 the Marsh Defendants filed a Motion for Summary Judgment arguing that the Court should apply the Arizona Statue of Limitations to the action. Aztar filed an objection to the Marsh Defendants' motion on September 23, 2011 arguing, inter alia, that the New Jersey Statute of Limitations applies to the action. The Marsh Defendants filed its Reply on October 3, 2011. The motion was argued in January 2012. In April 2012, the Court granted the Marsh Defendants' motion for Summary Judgment dismissing Aztar's complaint with prejudice. Aztar subsequently filed a Motion for Reconsideration with the Court, which motion is pending the Court's consideration. Any recovery obtained by Aztar in this action will be recoverable by Tropicana as the current owner of Tropicana AC. Railcar Environmental Matters ARI is subject to comprehensive federal, state, local and international environmental laws and regulations relating to the release or discharge of materials into the environment, the management, use, processing, handling, storage, transport or disposal of hazardous materials and wastes, or otherwise relating to the protection of human health and the environment. These laws and regulations not only expose ARI to liability for the environmental condition of its current or formerly owned or operated facilities, and its own negligent acts, but also may expose ARI to liability for the conduct of others or for ARI's actions that were in compliance with all applicable laws at the time these actions were taken. In addition, these laws may require significant expenditures to achieve compliance, and are frequently modified or revised to impose new obligations. Civil and criminal fines and penalties and other sanctions may be imposed for non-compliance with these environmental laws and regulations. ARI's operations that involve hazardous materials also raise potential risks of liability under common law. Management believes that there are no current environmental issues identified that would have a material adverse effect on ARI. Certain real property ARI acquired from ACF Industries LLC ("ACF") in 1994 has been involved in investigation and remediation activities to address contamination. Substantially all of the issues identified relate to the use of this property prior to its transfer to ARI by ACF and for which ACF has retained liability for environmental contamination that may have existed at the time of transfer to ARI. ACF has also agreed to indemnify ARI for any cost that might be incurred with those existing issues. As of March 31, 2012, ARI does not believe it will incur material costs in connection with any investigation or remediation activities relating to these properties, but it cannot assure that this will be the case. If ACF fails to honor its obligations to ARI, ARI could be responsible for the cost of such remediation. ARI believes that its operations and facilities are in substantial compliance with applicable laws and regulations and that any noncompliance is not likely to have a material adverse effect on its operations or financial condition. Other Matters One of ARI's joint ventures entered into a credit agreement in December 2007. Effective August 5, 2009, ARI and the other initial partner acquired this loan from the lenders party thereto, with each party acquiring a 50% interest in the loan. The total commitment under the term loan is $60 million with an additional $10 million commitment under the revolving loan. ARI is responsible to fund 50% of the loan commitments. The balance outstanding on these loans, due to ARI, was $38 million of principal and accrued interest as of March 31, 2012. ARI's share of the remaining commitment on these loans was $2 million as of March 31, 2012. On September 2, 2009, a complaint was filed by George Tedder (the "Plaintiff") against ARI in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Arkansas. The Plaintiff alleged that ARI was liable for an injury that resulted during the Plaintiff's break on April 24, 2008. At trial on April 9, 2012, the jury ruled in favor of the Plaintiff, thus ARI recorded a related charge that was included in the consolidated financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2012. ARI intends to appeal this decision. Metals Environmental Matters Certain of PSC Metals' facilities are environmentally impaired in part as a result of operating practices at the sites prior to their acquisition by PSC Metals and as a result of PSC Metals' operations. PSC Metals has established procedures to periodically evaluate these sites, giving consideration to the nature and extent of the contamination. PSC Metals has provided for the remediation of these sites based upon management's judgment and prior experience. PSC Metals has estimated the liability to remediate these sites to be $30 million at both March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011. Management believes, based on past experience, that the vast majority of these environmental liabilities and costs will be assessed and paid over an extended period of time. PSC Metals believes that it will be able to fund such costs in the ordinary course of business. Estimates of PSC Metals' liability for remediation of a particular site and the method and ultimate cost of remediation require a number of assumptions that are inherently difficult to make, and the ultimate outcome may be materially different from current estimates. Moreover, because PSC Metals has disposed of waste materials at numerous third-party disposal facilities, it is possible that PSC Metals will be identified as a PRP at additional sites. The impact of such future events cannot be estimated at the current time. PSC Metals has been designated as a PRP under U.S. federal and state superfund laws with respect to certain sites with which PSC Metals may have had a direct or indirect involvement. It is alleged that PSC Metals and its subsidiaries or their predecessors transported waste to the sites, disposed of waste at the sites or operated the sites in question. PSC Metals has negotiated a settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") that will resolve PSC Metals and its predecessors' liability associated with the Port Refinery superfund site in the Village of Rye Brook, NY. PSC Metals expects the settlement to become final in the next few months and believes that it has adequately accrued for this settlement. With respect to all other matters in which PSC Metals has been designated as the PRP under U.S. federal and state superfund laws, PSC Metals has reviewed the nature and extent of the allegations, the number, connection and financial ability of other named and unnamed PRPs and the nature and estimated cost of the likely remedy. Based on reviewing the nature and extent of the allegations, PSC Metals has estimated its liability to remediate these sites to be immaterial at each of March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011. If it is determined that PSC Metals has liability to remediate those sites and that more expensive remediation approaches are required in the future, PSC Metals could incur additional obligations, which could be material. PSC Metals recently received three notices of violation from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources ("MDNR") for hazardous waste and water violations related to its Festus, Missouri location. PSC Metals has responded to the notices of violation and is cooperating with MDNR's ongoing investigation of the site. PSC Metals is in the process of negotiating a settlement with the EPA that will resolve the three notices of violation referenced above. The contemplated settlement does not include any costs or penalties that may be incurred resulting from potential contamination at the facility. The MDNR has recently undertaken sampling for lead at residences near PSC Metals' Festus yard. MDNR has indicated to PSC Metals that this sampling was initiated in response to citizen complaints regarding its Festus yard. PSC Metals anticipates that MDNR will receive the results of this sampling in June 2012. At this time PSC Metals cannot assess the liability, if any, that it may have for remediation of its Festus yard or in the residential areas near that yard. The EPA, has alleged that PSC Metals' scrap processing facility located in Cleveland, Ohio has violated the requirements of Section 608 of the Clean Air Act, 42 USC Section 761, which requires scrap processors to either recover refrigerants from appliances in accordance with the procedures described in the applicable federal regulations or verify through certifications that refrigerants have previously been evacuated. PSC Metals has entered into a consent decree with the EPA that resolves all claims against it. The consent decree includes injunctive relief that will require it to offer refrigerant extraction services at 11 of its scrap processing facilities for the next four years. PSC Metals estimates that the cost associated with the required injunctive relief will range from $0.8 million to $1.7 million, exclusive of a civil penalty of $199,000 assessed in connection with the consent decree which PSC Metals paid in fiscal 2011. Home Fashion Environmental Matters WPH is subject to various federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations governing, among other things, the discharge, storage, handling and disposal of a variety of hazardous and nonhazardous substances and wastes used in or resulting from its operations and potential remediation obligations. WPH's operations are also governed by U.S. federal, state, local and foreign laws, rules and regulations relating to employee safety and health which, among other things, establish exposure limitation for cotton dust, formaldehyde, asbestos and noise, and which regulate chemical, physical and ergonomic hazards in the workplace. WPH estimated its environmental accruals to be $1 million at both March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011. Other Matters Mr. Icahn, through certain affiliates, owns 100% of Icahn Enterprises GP and approximately 93.0% of our outstanding depositary units as of March 31, 2012 and 92.6% as of December 31, 2011. Applicable pension and tax laws make each member of a “controlled group” of entities, generally defined as entities in which there is at least an 80% common ownership interest, jointly and severally liable for certain pension plan obligations of any member of the controlled group. These pension obligations include ongoing contributions to fund the plan, as well as liability for any unfunded liabilities that may exist at the time the plan is terminated. In addition, the failure to pay these pension obligations when due may result in the creation of liens in favor of the pension plan or the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation ("PBGC") against the assets of each member of the controlled group. As a result of the more than 80% ownership interest in us by Mr. Icahn’s affiliates, we and our subsidiaries are subject to the pension liabilities of all entities in which Mr. Icahn has a direct or indirect ownership interest of at least 80%. One such entity, ACF, is the sponsor of several pension plans. All the minimum funding requirements of the Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended by the Pension Protection Act of 2006, for these plans have been met as of March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011. If the plans were voluntarily terminated, they would be underfunded by approximately $114 million and $112 million as of March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively. These results are based on the most recent information provided by the plans’ actuaries. These liabilities could increase or decrease, depending on a number of factors, including future changes in benefits, investment returns, and the assumptions used to calculate the liability. As members of the controlled group, we would be liable for any failure of ACF to make ongoing pension contributions or to pay the unfunded liabilities upon a termination of the ACF pension plans. In addition, other entities now or in the future within the controlled group in which we are included may have pension plan obligations that are, or may become, underfunded and we would be liable for any failure of such entities to make ongoing pension contributions or to pay the unfunded liabilities upon termination of such plans. The current underfunded status of the ACF pension plans requires ACF to notify the PBGC of certain “reportable events,” such as if we cease to be a member of the ACF controlled group, or if we make certain extraordinary dividends or stock redemptions. The obligation to report could cause us to seek to delay or reconsider the occurrence of such reportable events. Starfire Holding Corporation ("Starfire") which is 100% owned by Mr. Icahn, has undertaken to indemnify us and our subsidiaries from losses resulting from any imposition of certain pension funding or termination liabilities that may be imposed on us and our subsidiaries or our assets as a result of being a member of the Icahn controlled group. The Starfire indemnity (which does not extend to pension liabilities of our subsidiaries that would be imposed on us as a result of our interest in these subsidiaries and not as a result of Mr. Icahn and his affiliates holding more than an 80% ownership interest in us) provides, among other things, that so long as such contingent liabilities exist and could be imposed on us, Starfire will not make any distributions to its stockholders that would reduce its net worth to below $250 million. Nonetheless, Starfire may not be able to fund its indemnification obligations to us.

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