Utilities: Contingencies & legal proceedings (ASC 450)

West Lake Landfill; Operable Unit 3 (OU3); Groundwater Study. In September 2018, the three identified PRPs, including Cotter, signed an Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order on Consent for the performance by the PRPs of the groundwater Remedial Investigation Feasibility Study (RI/FS). The purpose of this RI/FS is to define the nature and extent of any groundwater contamination from the West Lake Landfill site and evaluate remedial alternatives. We estimate the undiscounted cost for the groundwater RI/FS to be approximately $ 60 million. At this time we cannot predict the likelihood, or the extent to which remediation activities, if any, may be required and therefore cannot estimate a reasonably possible range of loss for response costs beyond those associated with the RI/FS component.

We determined a loss associated with the EPA's partial excavation and landfill cover remedy and the groundwater RI/FS is probable and have recorded a liability for each, both of which are included in the total amount as discussed above, that reflects management’s best estimate of Cotter’s allocable share of the cost among the PRPs. Given the joint and several nature of these two liabilities, the amount of our ultimate liability will depend on the actual costs incurred to implement the required remedy at OU1 and the required study at OU3, as well as on the nature and terms of any cost-sharing arrangements with the final group of PRPs. It is reasonably possible that the ultimate cost and Cotter's associated allocable share could differ significantly once these uncertainties are resolved, which could have a material impact on our results of operations and financial condition.

Latty Avenue and Vicinity Properties . In August 2011, Cotter was notified by the DOJ that Cotter is considered a PRP with respect to the government’s clean-up costs for contamination attributable to low-level radioactive residues at a former storage and reprocessing facility named Latty Avenue near St. Louis, Missouri.