Accrued Expenses and Other Current Liabilities

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Accrued Expenses and Other Current Liabilities [Abstract]

Accrued Expenses and Other Current Liabilities

Accrued Expenses and Other Current Liabilities

Accrued expenses and other current liabilities consist of the following:

	December 31,
	2015		2014
	(In thousands)
Payroll and employee benefits	$	58,423	$	73,362
Taxes other than income taxes	104,755		114,598
Interest	119,785		30,384
Acquired sales contracts	3,852		12,453
Workers’ compensation	16,875		16,714
Asset retirement obligations	13,795		19,222
Other	11,965		35,663
	$	329,450	$	302,396

The increase in the accrued interest balance is due to the Company exercising the 30-day grace period under its indenture agreements with holders of its 9.875% Senior Notes due 2019, the 7.00% Senior Notes due 2019 and the 7.25% Senior Notes due 2021 on December 15, 2015. This extended the time period the Company had to make the approximately $90 million interest payment due December 15, 2015 without triggering an event of default under the indentures. Subsequently, on January 11, 2016 (the "Petition Date"), the Company and substantially all of its wholly owned domestic subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of Title 11 of the U.S. Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. See additional details in Note 26, "Subsequent Events."