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Note 10 - Commitments and Contingencies | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2014
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block] |
10. | Commitments and Contingencies
Hazardous Waste In connection with our waste management services, the Company handles hazardous waste, non-hazardous waste, low level radioactive waste and mixed waste (containing both hazardous and low level radioactive waste), which the Company transports to our own, or other, facilities for destruction or disposal. As a result of disposing of these substances, in the event any cleanup is required, the Company could be a potentially responsible party for the costs of the cleanup notwithstanding any absence of fault on our part. Legal Matters In the normal course of conducting our business, the Company is involved in various litigation. We are not a party to any litigation or governmental proceeding which our management believes could result in any judgments or fines against us that would have a material adverse effect on our financial position, liquidity or results of future operations. Insurance The Company has a 25-year finite risk insurance policy entered into in June 2003 with American International Group, Inc. (“AIG”), which provides financial assurance to the applicable states for our permitted facilities in the event of unforeseen closure. The policy, as amended, provides for a maximum allowable coverage of $39,000,000 and has available capacity to allow for annual inflation and other performance and surety bond requirements. All of the required payments for this finite risk insurance policy, as amended, were made by the first quarter of 2012. As of September 30, 2014, our financial assurance coverage amount under this policy totaled approximately $38,679,000. The Company has recorded $15,424,000 in our sinking fund related to the policy noted above in other long term assets on the accompanying balance sheets, which includes interest earned of $953,000 on the sinking fund as of September 30, 2014. Interest income for three and nine months ended September 30, 2014, was approximately $5,000 and $15,000, respectively. On the fourth and subsequent anniversaries of the contract inception, the Company may elect to terminate this contract. If the Company so elects, AIG is obligated to pay us an amount equal to 100% of the sinking fund account balance in return for complete releases of liability from both us and any applicable regulatory agency using this policy as an instrument to comply with financial assurance requirements. In August 2007, the Company entered into a second finite risk insurance policy for our PFNWR facility with AIG. The policy provided an initial $7,800,000 of financial assurance coverage with an annual growth rate of 1.5%, which at the end of the four year term policy, provides maximum coverage of $8,200,000. The Company has made all of the required payments on this policy. As of September 30, 2014, the Company has recorded $5,902,000 in our sinking fund related to this policy in other long term assets on the accompanying balance sheets, which includes interest earned of $202,000 on the sinking fund as of September 30, 2014. Interest income for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014 was approximately $1,000 and $4,000, respectively. This policy is renewed annually at the end of the four year term with a nominal fee for the variance between the coverage requirement and the sinking fund balance. The Company has renewed this policy annually from 2011 to 2014 (with fees ranging from $41,000 to $46,000 annually). All other terms of the policy remain substantially unchanged.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for commitments and contingencies. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 210 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.25) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 825 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6449706&loc=d3e16207-108621 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 460 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 8 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6398077&loc=d3e12565-110249 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14435-108349 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 440 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6394976&loc=d3e25287-109308 + Details
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