CONTINGENT LIABILITIES AND OTHER MATTERS |
9 Months Ended |
|---|---|
Sep. 30, 2015 | |
| Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] | |
| CONTINGENT LIABILITIES AND OTHER MATTERS | CONTINGENT LIABILITIES AND OTHER MATTERS The Company is involved in various legal proceedings relating to employment, product liability and other matters (collectively, “Proceedings”). The Company regularly reviews the status of such Proceedings with legal counsel. Liabilities for such Proceedings are recorded when it is probable that the liability has been incurred and when the amount of the liability can be reasonably estimated. Liabilities are adjusted when additional information becomes available. Management believes that the amount of any reasonably possible losses in excess of any amounts accrued, if any, with respect to such Proceedings or any other known claims, including the matters described below under the caption Environmental Matters (the “Environmental Matters”) will not be material to the Company’s financial statements. Management believes that the ultimate disposition of the Proceedings and the Environmental Matters will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s operations or financial condition taken as a whole. Litigation The Company is involved in litigation from time to time in the regular course of its business. The Company believes that adequate provisions for resolution of all contingencies, claims and pending litigation have been made for probable losses that are reasonably estimable. The Company does not believe that the ultimate outcome of these actions will have a material adverse effect on its financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. Environmental Matters The Company has been deemed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to be a Potentially Responsible Party (“PRP”) with respect to certain sites under the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act. The Company has also been deemed a PRP under similar state or local laws and in other instances other PRPs have brought suits against it as a PRP for contribution under such federal, state, or local laws. At September 30, 2015, the Company had environmental remediation liabilities as a PRP at 19 sites where it has a continuing legal obligation to either complete remedial actions or contribute to the completion of remedial actions as part of a group of PRPs. Environmental liability estimates may be affected by changing determinations of what constitutes an environmental exposure or an acceptable level of cleanup. To the extent that the required remediation procedures or timing of those procedures change, additional contamination is identified, or the financial condition of other PRPs is adversely affected, the estimate of our environmental liabilities may change. For these sites the Company estimates a reserve to reflect environmental liabilities that have been asserted or are probable of assertion, in which liabilities are probable and reasonably estimable. At September 30, 2015, our reserve for such liabilities was $2 million. Changes in required remediation procedures or timing of those procedures at existing legacy sites, or discovery of contamination at additional sites, could result in increases to our environmental obligations. |