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Commitments and Contingencies
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies
Commitments and Contingencies

The Company accrues for costs related to contingencies when a loss is probable and the amount is reasonably determinable. Disclosure of contingencies is included in the financial statements when it is at least reasonably possible that a material loss or an additional material loss in excess of amounts already accrued may be incurred.
 
Allegheny Energy Supply (“Allegheny”), the sole customer of coal produced at the Company's subsidiary Wolf Run Mining Company's (“Wolf Run”) Sycamore No. 2 mine, filed a lawsuit against Wolf Run, Hunter Ridge Holdings, Inc. (“Hunter Ridge”), and ICG in state court in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania on December 28, 2006, and amended its complaint on April 23, 2007. Allegheny claimed that Wolf Run breached a coal supply contract when it declared force majeure under the contract upon idling the Sycamore No. 2 mine in the third quarter of 2006, and that Wolf Run continued to breach the contract by failing to ship in volumes referenced in the contract.  The Sycamore No. 2 mine was idled after encountering adverse geologic conditions and abandoned gas wells that were previously unidentified and unmapped.

After extensive searching for gas wells and rehabilitation of the mine, it was re-opened in 2007, but with notice to Allegheny that it would necessarily operate at reduced volumes in order to safely and effectively avoid the many gas wells within the reserve.  The amended complaint also alleged that the production stoppages constitute a breach of the guarantee agreement by Hunter Ridge and breach of certain representations made upon entering into the contract in early 2005. Allegheny voluntarily dropped the breach of representation claims later.  Allegheny claimed that it would incur costs in excess of $100 million to purchase replacement coal over the life of the contract.  ICG, Wolf Run and Hunter Ridge answered the amended complaint on August 13, 2007, disputing all of the remaining claims.

On November 3, 2008, ICG, Wolf Run and Hunter Ridge filed an amended answer and counterclaim against the plaintiffs seeking to void the coal supply agreement due to, among other things, fraudulent inducement and conspiracy.  On September 23, 2009, Allegheny filed a second amended complaint alleging several alternative theories of liability in its effort to extend contractual liability to ICG, which was not a party to the original contract and did not exist at the time Wolf Run and Allegheny entered into the contract.  No new substantive claims were asserted.  ICG answered the second amended complaint on October 13, 2009, denying all of the new claims.  The Company's counterclaim was dismissed on motion for summary judgment entered on May 11, 2010.  Allegheny's claims against ICG were also dismissed by summary judgment, but the claims against Wolf Run and Hunter Ridge were not.  The court conducted a non-jury trial of this matter beginning on January 10, 2011 and concluding on February 1, 2011.

At the trial, Allegheny presented its evidence for breach of contract and claimed that it is entitled to past and future damages in the aggregate of between $228 million and $377 million.  Wolf Run and Hunter Ridge presented their defense of the claims, including evidence with respect to the existence of force majeure conditions and excuse under the contract and applicable law.  Wolf Run and Hunter Ridge presented evidence that Allegheny's damages calculations were significantly inflated because it did not seek to determine damages as of the time of the breach and in some instances artificially assumed future nondelivery or did not take into account the apparent requirement to supply coal in the future.  On May 2, 2011, the trial court entered a Memorandum and Verdict determining that Wolf Run had breached the coal supply contract and that the performance shortfall was not excused by force majeure.  The trial court awarded total damages and interest in the amount of $104.1 million, which consisted of $13.8 million for past damages, and $90.3 million for future damages.  ICG and Allegheny filed post-verdict motions in the trial court and on August 23, 2011, the court denied the parties' motions.  The court entered a final judgment on August 25, 2011, in the amount of $104.1 million, which included pre-judgment interest. 

The parties appealed the lower court's decision to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania.  On August 13, 2012, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania affirmed the award of past damages, but ruled that the lower court should have calculated future damages as of the date of breach, and remanded the matter back to the lower court with instructions to recalculate that portion of the award. On November 19, 2012, Allegheny filed a Petition for Allowance of Appeal with the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and Wolf Run and Hunter Ridge filed an Answer. On July 2, 2013, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania denied the Petition of Allowance. As this action finalized the past damage award, Wolf Run paid $15.6 million for the past damage amount, including interest, to Allegheny in July 2013. Testimony on the future damage award in the lower court concluded on May 19, 2014, and post-trial briefs and responses were submitted on August 8, 2014. The court held a hearing on this matter on November 5, 2014 and on February 16, 2015 awarded Allegheny $7.5 million plus interest for the future damages. On April 6, 2015, the parties entered into a settlement agreement pursuant to which Wolf Run agreed to pay $15 million and both parties agreed to release and discharge the other party from any further contractual liability. As a result, the Company accrued an additional $2.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 to bring the total amount accrued up to the settlement amount. The expense associated with the accrual is reflected in the line item "Cost of sales". In April, the Company idled the Sycamore No. 2 mine, the impact of which will be recorded in the second quarter.

In addition, the Company is a party to numerous other claims and lawsuits with respect to various matters. As of March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, the Company had accrued $17.3 million and $22.3 million, respectively, for all legal matters, including $17.3 million and $10.1 million, respectively, classified as current.  The ultimate resolution of any such legal matter could result in outcomes which may be materially different from amounts the Company has accrued for such matters.