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Note 9 - Commitments and Contingencies | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2017
Notes to Financial Statements |
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block] |
9. | Commitments and Contingencies
Hazardous Waste In connection with our waste management services, we process both hazardous and non-hazardous waste, which we transport to our own, or other, facilities for destruction or disposal. As a result of disposing of hazardous substances, in the event any cleanup is required, we 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, we are 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 previously made by the Company. At March 31, 2017, our financial assurance coverage amount under this policy totaled approximately $29,473,000. The Company has recorded $15,573,000 and $15,546,000 in sinking funds related to this policy in other long term assets on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets at March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively, which includes interest earned of $1,102,000 and $1,075,000 on the sinking funds as of March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively. Interest income for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016 was approximately $27,000 and $14,000, respectively. If the Company so elects, AIG is obligated to pay the Company an amount equal to 100% of the sinking fund account balance in return for complete release of liability from both the Company 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 (“PFNWR policy”) 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. At March 31, 2017, our financial assurance coverage amount under this policy totaled approximately $7,973,000. The Company had initially recorded $5,949,000 and $5,941,000 in sinking funds related to this policy in other long term assets on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets at March 31, 2017 (see a discussion of the subsequent reclassification of the $5,949,000 in finite risk sinking funds at March 31, 2017 to finite risk sinking fund receivable in current assets on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets at March 31, 2017 below) and December 31, 2016, respectively, which includes interest earned of $249,000 and $241,000 on the sinking fund as of March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively. Interest income for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016 was approximately $8,000 and $2,000, respectively. This policy has been 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. During the latter part of 2016, the Company initiated a plan to secure other options in providing financial assurance coverage for our PFNWR facility, including acquiring a separate bonding mechanism that would allow for the release of the sinking funds securing the PFNWR policy as discussed above. At March 31, 2017, the Company was waiting for final approvals on the releases of the PFNWR policy from state and federal regulators (the releases were obtained by the Company subsequent to quarter ended March 31, 2017). The releases allow the Company to cancel the PFNWR policy with AIG which would result in the release of the approximate $5,949,000 in sinking funds securing the PFNWR policy back to the Company. The Company has acquired a new bonding mechanism in the required amount of approximately $7,000,000 (“new bonds”) to replace the PFNWR policy in providing financial assurance for the PFNWR facility. The new bonds require approximately $2,500,000 in collateral and the new bonding agency has agreed to allow the Company to provide this collateral with a standby letter of credit to be issued by the Company’s lender upon AIG’s release of the approximate $5,949,000 in finite sinking funds under the PFNWR policy which is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2017. Accordingly, at March 31, 2017, the Company reclassified the $5,949,000 in finite risk sinking funds initially included in other long term assets on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets to finite risk sinking fund receivable included in current assets on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets (See “Note 14 – Subsequent Events – Closure Policy and Credit Facility” for release of the finite sinking fund by AIG). Letter of Credits and Bonding Requirements From time to time, we are required to post standby letters of credit and various bonds to support contractual obligations to customers and other obligations, including facility closures. At March 31, 2017, the total amount of these bonds and letters of credit outstanding was approximately $8,435,000 (which include bonds purchased totaling approximately $7,000,000 for our PFNWR facility as discussed above), of which the majority of the amount relates to various bonding requirements.

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