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ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2020
ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS | NOTE 7 – ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS UNITIL’S ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS ARE DESCRIBED IN NOTE 8 TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS IN ITEM 8 OF PART II OF UNITIL CORPORATION’S ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K FOR DECEMBER 31, 2019 AS FILED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION ON JANUARY 30, 2020. The Company’s past and present operations include activities that are generally subject to extensive and complex federal and state environmental laws and regulations. The Company is in material compliance with applicable environmental and safety laws and regulations and, as of September 30, 2020, has not identified any material losses reasonably likely to be incurred in excess of recorded amounts. However, the Company cannot assure that significant costs and liabilities will not be incurred in the future. It is possible that other developments, such as increasingly stringent federal, state or local environmental laws and regulations could result in increased environmental compliance costs. Based on the Company’s current assessment of its environmental responsibilities, existing legal requirements and regulatory policies, the Company does not believe that these environmental costs will have a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated financial position or results of operations. Northern Utilities Manufactured Gas Plant Sites - Northern Utilities has an extensive program to identify, investigate and remediate former manufactured gas plant (MGP) sites, which were operated from the mid-1800s through the mid-1900s. In New Hampshire, MGP sites were identified in Dover, Exeter, Portsmouth, Rochester and Somersworth. In Maine, Northern Utilities has documented the presence of MGP sites in Lewiston and Portland, and a former MGP disposal site in Scarborough. Northern Utilities has worked with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NH DES) to address environmental concerns with these sites. Northern Utilities or others have completed remediation activities at all sites; however, on site monitoring continues at several sites which may result in future remedial actions as directed by the applicable regulatory agency. In July 2019, the NH DES requested that Northern Utilities review modeled expectations for groundwater contaminants against observed data at the Rochester site. In June 2020, the NH DES coupled the submittal of the review to a proposed extension of the gas distribution system by Northern Utilities; both the review and extension are expected to be completed by the end of the fourth quarter of 2020. While any recommendation is subject to approval by the NH DES, the Company has accrued $0.8 million for estimated costs to complete the remediation at the Rochester site, which is included in the Environmental Obligations table below. The NHPUC and MPUC have approved regulatory mechanisms for the recovery of MGP environmental costs. For Northern Utilities’ New Hampshire division, the NHPUC has approved the recovery of MGP environmental costs over succeeding seven-year periods. For Northern Utilities’ Maine division, the MPUC has authorized the recovery of environmental remediation costs over succeeding five-year periods. The Environmental Obligations table below shows the amounts accrued for Northern Utilities related to estimated future cleanup costs associated with Northern Utilities’ environmental remediation obligations for former MGP sites. Corresponding Regulatory Assets were recorded to reflect that the future recovery of these environmental remediation costs is expected based on regulatory precedent and established practices. Fitchburg’s Manufactured Gas Plant Site - Fitchburg has worked with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to address environmental concerns with the former MGP site at Sawyer Passway, and has substantially completed remediation activities, though on site monitoring continues. In April 2020, Fitchburg received notification from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (Mass DOT) that a portion of the site may be incorporated into the proposed Twin City Rail Trail with an anticipated completion in 2021 or 2022. Depending upon the final agreement between Fitchburg and Mass DOT, additional minor costs are expected prior to completion. Fitchburg recovers the environmental response costs incurred at this former MGP site in gas rates pursuant to the terms of a cost recovery agreement approved by the MDPU. Pursuant to this agreement, Fitchburg is authorized to amortize and recover environmental response costs from gas customers over succeeding seven-year periods. The following table sets forth a summary of changes in the Company’s liability for Environmental Obligations for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019. Environmental Obligations
|  | ($ millions) |
|  | Fitchburg |  |  | Northern Utilities |  |  | Total |
|  | Nine months ended September 30, |
|  | 2020 |  |  | 2019 |  |  | 2020 |  |  | 2019 |  |  | 2020 |  |  | 2019 |
Total Balance at Beginning of Period |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 2.7 |  |  | $ | 2.0 |  |  | $ | 2.7 |  |  | $ | 2.0 |
Additions |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | 0.1 |  |  |  | 1.0 |  |  |  | 0.1 |  |  |  | 1.0 |
Less: Payments / Reductions |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | 0.6 |  |  |  | 0.2 |  |  |  | 0.6 |  |  |  | 0.2 |
Total Balance at End of Period |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | 2.2 |  |  |  | 2.8 |  |  |  | 2.2 |  |  |  | 2.8 |
Less: Current Portion |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | 0.3 |  |  |  | 0.6 |  |  |  | 0.3 |  |  |  | 0.6 |
Noncurrent Balance at End of Period |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 1.9 |  |  | $ | 2.2 |  |  | $ | 1.9 |  |  | $ | 2.2 |

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- Definition The entire disclosure for environmental loss contingencies, such as presence of hazardous waste, relevant information from reports issued by regulators, and estimated costs to achieve compliance with regulatory requirements. This element may be used for all of an entity's disclosures about environmental loss contingencies. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 410 -SubTopic 30 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/subtopic&trid=2175709 + Details
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