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Note 8 - Commitments and Contingencies | 6 Months Ended
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Jun. 30, 2017
Notes to Financial Statements |
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block] |
8. | 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 June 30, 2017, our financial assurance coverage amount under this policy totaled approximately $29,473,000. The Company has recorded $15,608,000 and $15,546,000 in sinking funds related to this policy in other long term assets on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets at June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively, which includes interest earned of $1,136,000 and $1,075,000 on the sinking funds as of June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively. Interest income for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017 was approximately $34,000 and $61,000, respectively. Interest income for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2016, was approximately $24,000 and $38,000, respectively. 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 release of liability from both us and any applicable regulatory agency using this policy as an instrument to comply with financial assurance requirements. The Company also had a finite risk insurance policy dated August 2007 for our PFNWR facility with AIG (“PFNWR policy”) which provided financial assurance to the State of Washington in the event of closure of the PFNWR facility. The Company had recorded $5,941,000 in finite risk sinking funds at December 31, 2016 in other long term assets on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets which included interest earned of $241,000 on the sinking fund. In April 2017, the Company received final releases from state and federal regulators for the PFNWR policy which enabled the Company to cancel the PFNWR policy resulting in the release of approximately $5,951,000 on May 1, 2017 in finite sinking funds previously held by AIG as collateral for the PFNWR policy. The Company used the released finite sinking funds to pay off its revolving credit with the remaining funds to be used for general working capital needs. The Company has acquired new bonds in the required amount of approximately $7,000,000 (“new bonds”) to replace the PFNWR policy in providing financial assurance for the PFNWR facility. Upon receipt of the $5,951,000 in finite sinking funds from AIG, the Company and its lender executed a standby letter of credit in the amount of $2,500,000 as collateral for the new bonds for the PFNWR facility. In addition, the Company’s lender placed an additional $750,000 restriction on the Company’s borrowing availability pursuant to a “Condition Subsequent” clause in the November 17, 2016 amendment that the Company entered into with its lender. Interest income earned under the PFNWR policy for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017 was approximately $2,000 and $10,000, respectively. Interest income for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2016, was approximately $5,000 and $7,000, respectively. 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 June 30, 2017, the total amount of standby letters of credit outstanding totaled approximately $2,675,000 and the total amount of bonds outstanding totaled approximately $8,253,000.

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