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Asset Retirement Obligations

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2011

Notes to Financial Statements [Abstract]

Our asset retirement obligations consist primarily of costs associated with the disposal of spent pot liner used in the reduction cells of our domestic facilities.

The reconciliation of the changes in the asset retirement obligations is presented below:

	Six months ended June 30, 2011			Year ended December 31, 2010
Beginning balance, ARO liability	$	14,274		$	15,233
Additional ARO liability incurred		555			1,057
ARO liabilities settled		(658	)		(1,162	)
Accretion expense		551			1,040
Adjustments (1)		—			(1,894	)
Ending balance, ARO liability	$	14,722		$	14,274

(1)	We adjusted our ARO liability in the first quarter of 2010 for changes in the estimated amounts and timing of costs associated with the disposal of spent potliner.

Certain conditional AROs related to the disposal costs of fixed assets at our primary aluminum facilities have not been recorded because they have an indeterminate settlement date. These conditional AROs will be initially recognized in the period in which sufficient information exists to estimate their fair value.