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Note 15 - Commitments and Contingencies | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2017
Notes to Financial Statements |
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block] |
15 . | COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES:
Portland Harbor Superfund On December 1, 2000, a section of the lower Willamette River known as the Portland Harbor Site was included on the National Priorities List at the request of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (the “EPA”). While the Company’s Portland, Oregon manufacturing facility does not border the Willamette River, an outfall from the facility’s stormwater system drains into a neighboring property’s privately owned stormwater system and slip. Since the listing of the site, the Company was notified by the EPA and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (“ODEQ”) of potential liability under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (“CERCLA”). In 2008, the Company was asked to file information disclosure reports with the EPA (CERCLA 104 (e) information request). A remedial investigation and feasibility study of the Portland Harbor Site was directed by a group of 14 potentially responsible parties known as the Lower Willamette Group under agreement with the EPA. The remedial investigation report was finalized in February 2016. The feasibility study was finalized in June 2016 by the EPA, and identified multiple remedial alternatives. The EPA issued the Record of Decision in January 2017 selecting the remedy for cleanup at the Portland Harbor Site, which it believes will cost approximately $1 billion and 13 years to complete. The Record of Decision did not determine who is responsible for the costs of cleanup or how the cleanup costs will be allocated among the potentially responsible parties. In 2001, groundwater containing elevated volatile organic compounds was identified in one localized area of leased property adjacent to the Portland facility furthest from the river. Assessment work was conducted in 2002 and 2003 to further characterize the groundwater. In February 2005, the Company entered into a Voluntary Agreement for Remedial Investigation and Source Control Measures (the “Voluntary Agreement”) with the ODEQ, and has performed remedial investigation work required under the Voluntary Agreement. In 2016, the EPA and the ODEQ requested additional groundwater sampling, which was completed in the third quarter of 2017. The results, which were communicated to the ODEQ and the EPA in August 2017, have been generally consistent with previous sampling and modeling work. The Company is currently awaiting a response from the ODEQ, but anticipates it will file a final Remedial Investigation/Source Control Evaluation report with the ODEQ and the EPA in 2018. Concurrent with the activities of the EPA and the ODEQ, the Portland Harbor Natural Resources Trustee Council (“Trustees”) sent some or all of the same parties, including the Company, a notice of intent to perform a Natural Resource Damage Assessment (“NRDA”) for the Portland Harbor Site to determine the nature and extent of natural resource damages under CERCLA Section 107. The Trustees for the Portland Harbor Site consist of representatives from several Northwest Indian Tribes, three federal agencies and one state agency. The Trustees act independently of the EPA and the ODEQ. The Trustees have encouraged potentially responsible parties to voluntarily participate in the funding of their injury assessments and several of those parties have agreed to do so. In June 2014, the Company agreed to participate in the injury assessment process, which included funding $0.4 million of the assessment; of this amount, $0.2 million was paid in July 2014 and the remainder was paid in January 2015. The Company has not assumed any additional payment obligations or liabilities with the participation with the NRDA. In January 2017, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, a Trustee until they withdrew from the council in 2009, filed a complaint against the potentially responsible parties including the Company to recover costs related to their own injury assessment and compensation for natural resources damages. The Company ’s potential liability is a portion of the costs of the remedy for the entire Portland Harbor Superfund Site. The cost of that remedy is expected to be allocated among more than 100 potentially responsible parties. Because of the large number of responsible parties and the variability in the range of remediation alternatives, the Company is unable to estimate an amount or an amount within a range of costs for its obligation with respect to the Portland Harbor Site matters, and no further adjustment to the Consolidated Financial Statements has been recorded as of the date of this filing. The Company has insurance policies for defense costs, as well as indemnification policies it believes will provide reimbursement for any share of the remediation assessed. However, the Company can provide no assurance that those policies will cover all of the costs which the Company may incur. Houston Environmental Issue In connection with the Company ’s sale of its oil country tubular goods (“OCTG”) business, a Limited Phase II Environmental Site Assessment was conducted at the Houston, Texas plant and completed in March 2014, which revealed the presence of volatile organic compounds in the groundwater and certain metals in the soil. In June 2014, the Company was accepted into the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (“TCEQ”) Voluntary Cleanup Program (“VCP”) to address these issues and obtain a Certificate of Completion from the TCEQ. The cost of any potential assessment and cleanup will not be covered by insurance. The Company believes these costs are likely to be recovered from the purchaser of the OCTG business upon future sale of the Houston property. The Company implemented a remediation plan that included a groundwater assessment, which was completed in December 2016, as well as obtaining a municipal setting designation ordinance to prevent consumption of shallow groundwater from beneath the property, thereby eliminating the need for more costly remediation measures. In December 2017, the TCEQ issued the Certificate of Completion. All Sites The Company operates its facilities under numerous governmental permits and licenses relating to air emissions, stormwater runoff and other environmental matters. The Company ’s operations are also governed by many other laws and regulations, including those relating to workplace safety and worker health, principally the Occupational Safety and Health Act and regulations there under which, among other requirements, establish noise and dust standards. The Company believes it is in material compliance with its permits and licenses and these laws and regulations, and the Company does not believe that future compliance with such laws and regulations will have a material adverse effect on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows. Other Contingencies and Legal Proceedings From time to time, the Company is involved in litigation relating to claims arising out of its operations in the normal course of its business. The Company maintains insurance coverage against potential claims in amounts that are believed to be adequate. To the extent that insurance does not cover legal, defense and indemnification costs associated with a loss contingency, the Company records accruals when such losses are considered probable and reasonably estimable. The Company believes that it is not presently a party to litigation, the outcome of which would have a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. Guarantees The Company has entered into certain letters of credit that total $2.0 million as of December 31, 2017. The letters of credit relate to workers’ compensation insurance.

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