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NSC Agua | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2013
Investments In and Advances To Affiliates, Schedule Of Investments [Abstract] |
Investments in and Advances to Affiliates, Schedule of Investments [Text Block] | 7. NSC Agua In May 2010, the Company acquired, through its wholly-owned Netherlands subsidiary, Consolidated Water Cooperatief, U.A., a 50% interest in N.S.C. Agua, S.A. de C.V., (“NSC”) a Mexican company. The Company has since purchased, through the conversion of a previous loan to NSC, sufficient shares to raise its ownership interest in NSC to 99.9%. NSC was formed to pursue a project encompassing the construction, operation and minority ownership of a 100 million gallon per day seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant to be located in northern Baja California, Mexico and an accompanying pipeline to deliver water to the Mexican potable water infrastructure and the U.S. border. The Company believes such a project can be successful due to what the Company anticipates will be a growing need for a new potable water supply for the areas of northern Baja California, Mexico and Southern California, United States. To complete this project, the Company has engaged two engineering groups with extensive regional and/or technical experience and has partnered with Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction (“DHIC”), a global leader in the engineering, procurement and construction of large seawater desalination plants. Once completed, the Company expects to participate in the operation of the plant and pipeline and also expects to retain a minority ownership position in the project. NSC is in the development stage, and is presently seeking contracts for the electric power and feed water sources for the plant’s proposed operations, and is conducting (under a Memorandum of Understanding with DHIC) an equipment piloting plant and water quality data collection program at the proposed feed water source. In addition to completing these activities, NSC will be required to accomplish various other steps before it can commence construction of the plant and pipeline including, but not limited to, completing the purchases of land required for the project, obtaining approvals and permits from various governmental agencies in Mexico and the United States, securing contracts with its proposed customers to sell water in sufficient quantities and at prices that make the project financially viable, and obtaining equity and debt financing for the project. NSC’s potential customers will also be required to obtain various governmental permits and approvals in order to purchase water from NSC. In February 2012, the Company acquired an option, exercisable through February 7, 2014, to purchase the shares of one of the other shareholders of NSC for $1.0 million, along with an immediate power of attorney to vote those shares. If the Company does not exercise this option and purchase these shares, the other shareholder will receive sufficient additional shares in NSC to increase its ownership interest in NSC to 25%. In 2011, NSC entered into a purchase contract for 8.1 hectares of land on which the proposed plant would be constructed. In July 2012, NSC obtained an extension of this purchase contract through May 15, 2014 in exchange for prepayments of (i) $500,000 paid at signing of the extension and (ii) a further $500,000 paid in May 2013. NSC is required to pay a balance of $6.98 million on May 15, 2014 to complete the purchase of this land. In May 2013, NSC purchased an additional 12 hectares of land, which constitute most of the land required for the project, for $12 million, of which $2 million has been paid. The remaining $10 million balance for this purchase is due on May 15, 2014. In August 2012, NSC and DHIC extended their Memorandum of Understanding for 18 months from August 19, 2012, pursuant to which DHIC installed and operated an equipment piloting plant and collected water quality data from the proposed feed water source site in Rosarito Beach, Baja California, Mexico. This amended Memorandum of Understanding requires that NSC negotiate exclusively with DHIC for the construction of the 100 million gallon per day seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant and further requires payment by NSC to DHIC of up to $500,000 as compensation for the operation and maintenance of the equipment piloting plant should NSC not award the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the project to DHIC. This first phase of the pilot plant testing program was completed in October 2013. NSC is currently developing additional sampling protocols to comply with regulatory requirements in the U.S. and Mexico, and is also coordinating with regulators to assess the need, if any, for further process piloting. In November 2012, NSC signed a letter of intent with Otay Water District in Southern California to deliver no less than 20 million and up to 40 million gallons of water per day from the plant to the Otay Water District at the border between Mexico and the United States. NSC has entered into a 20 year lease, effective November 2012, with the Comisión Federal de Electricidad for approximately 5,000 square meters of land on which it plans to construct the water intake and discharge works for the plant. The amounts due on this lease are payable in Mexican pesos at an amount that is currently equivalent to approximately $20,000 per month. This lease is cancellable should NSC ultimately not proceed with the project. In May 2013, NSC repaid a loan payable to the Company of approximately $5.7 million by issuing additional shares of its stock. As a result of this share issuance, the Company now owns 99.9% of NSC. The Company includes the accounts of NSC in its consolidated financial statements. Included in the Company’s consolidated results of operations are general and administrative expenses from NSC, consisting of organizational, legal, accounting, engineering, consulting and other costs relating to NSC’s project development activities. Such expenses amounted to $1,231,419 and $482,015 for the three months ended September 30, 2013 and 2012, respectively, and $2,223,291 and $1,221,689 for the nine months ended September 30, 2013 and 2012, respectively, and totaled approximately $6.4 million for the three year period ended December 31, 2012. The assets and liabilities of NSC included in the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheet amounted to approximately $13,710,000 and $10,343,000, respectively, as of September 30, 2013 and approximately $1,452,000 and $116,000, respectively, as of December 31, 2012. The Company has determined that completing NSC’s development activities will require significant additional funding and the Company may incur significant development expenses in the future for this project. The Company estimates that it will take at least through the third quarter of 2014 for NSC to complete all of the development activities (which include completing the site piloting plant activities, completing the purchase of the land for the plant, securing feed water and power supplies, completing the engineering and feasibility studies, negotiating customer contracts, obtaining the required rights-of-way and regulatory permits and arranging the project financing) necessary to commence construction of the plant and pipeline. However, NSC may ultimately be unable to complete all of the activities necessary to begin construction of the project.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for the information summarizing investments in and advances to majority-owned subsidiaries, other controlled companies, and other affiliates. It reflects specified information about ownership, financial results from, and financial position in such entities. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 946 -SubTopic 320 -Section S99 -Paragraph 6 -Subparagraph (SX 210.12-14) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6955306&loc=d3e611322-123010 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Regulation S-X (SX) -Number 210 -Section 14 -Article 12 + Details
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