Commitments and Contingencies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2021

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

Commitments and Contingencies

The Company is subject to various domestic and international environmental laws and regulations that govern the discharge of pollutants and disposal of wastes, and which may require that it investigate and remediate the effects of the release or disposal of materials at sites associated with past and present operations. The Company could incur substantial cleanup costs, fines, and civil or criminal sanctions, third party property damage or personal injury claims as a result of violations or liabilities under these laws or noncompliance with environmental permits required at its facilities. The Company is currently involved in the investigation and remediation of a number of its current and former sites, as well as third party sites.

Environmental liabilities are recorded when the Company’s liability is probable and the costs are reasonably estimable. In many cases, however, the Company is not able to determine whether it is liable or, if liability is probable, to reasonably estimate the loss or range of loss. Estimates of the Company’s liability remain subject to additional uncertainties, including the nature and extent of site contamination, available remediation alternatives, the extent of corrective actions that may be required, and the number, participation, and financial condition of other potentially responsible parties (PRPs). The Company adjusts its accruals to reflect new information as appropriate. Future adjustments could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated results of operations in a given period, but the Company cannot reliably predict the amounts of such future adjustments.

At June 30, 2021, the Company’s reserves for environmental remediation obligations totaled approximately $13 million, of which $4 million was included in other current liabilities. The reserve includes estimated probable future costs of $3 million for federal Superfund and comparable state-managed sites; $8 million for formerly owned or operated sites for which the Company has remediation or indemnification obligations; and $2 million for owned or controlled sites at which Company operations have been or plan to be discontinued. The timing of expenditures depends on a number of factors that vary by site. The Company expects that it will expend present accruals over many years and that remediation of all sites with which it has been identified will be completed within thirty years. The Company continues to evaluate whether it may be able to recover a portion of past and future costs for environmental liabilities from third parties and to pursue such recoveries where appropriate.

Based on currently available information, it is reasonably possible that costs for recorded matters may exceed the Company’s recorded reserves by as much as $15 million. Future investigation or remediation activities may result in the discovery of additional hazardous materials or potentially higher levels of contamination than discovered during prior investigation, and may impact costs associated with the success or lack thereof in remedial solutions. Therefore, future developments, administrative actions or liabilities relating to environmental matters could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated financial condition or results of operations.

A number of other lawsuits, claims and proceedings have been or may be asserted against the Company relating to the conduct of its currently and formerly owned businesses, including those pertaining to product liability, environmental, health and safety matters and occupational disease (including as each relates to alleged asbestos exposure), as well as patent infringement, commercial, government contracting, construction, employment, employee and retiree benefits, taxes, environmental, and stockholder and corporate governance matters. While the outcome of litigation cannot be predicted with certainty, and some of these lawsuits, claims or proceedings may be determined adversely to the Company, management does not believe that the disposition of any such pending matters is likely to have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition or liquidity, although the resolution in any reporting period of one or more of these matters could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated results of operations for that period.

Allegheny Technologies Incorporated and its subsidiary, ATI Titanium LLC (ATI Titanium), are parties to a lawsuit captioned US Magnesium, LLC v. ATI Titanium LLC (Case No. 2:17-cv-00923-DB) and filed in federal district court in Salt Lake City, UT, pertaining to a Supply and Operating Agreement between US Magnesium LLC (USM) and ATI Titanium entered into in 2006 (the Supply Agreement). In 2016, ATI Titanium notified USM that it would suspend performance under the Supply Agreement in reliance on certain terms and conditions included in the Supply Agreement. USM subsequently filed a claim challenging ATI Titanium’s right to suspend performance under the Supply Agreement, claiming that such suspension was a material breach of the Supply Agreement and seeking monetary damages, and ATI Titanium filed a counterclaim for breach of contract against USM. In 2018, USM obtained leave of the court to add Allegheny Technologies Incorporated as a separate party defendant, and ATI Titanium filed a motion to dismiss the claim against Allegheny Technologies Incorporated, which the court denied on April 19, 2019. No trial date has been set by the court given the restrictions of the pandemic. While ATI intends to vigorously defend against and pursue these claims, it cannot predict their outcomes at this time.