ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS

NOTE 17: ASSET RETIREMENT

OBLIGATIONS

Asset retirement obligations (AROs) are legal obligations associated with the retirement of long-lived assets resulting from the acquisition, construction, development and/or normal use of the underlying assets.

Recognition of a liability for an ARO is required in the period in which it is incurred at its estimated fair value. The associated asset retirement costs are capitalized as part of the carrying amount of the underlying asset and depreciated over the estimated useful life of the asset. The liability is accreted through charges to operating expenses. If the ARO is settled for other than the carrying amount of the liability, we recognize a gain or loss on settlement.

We record all AROs for which we have legal obligations for land reclamation at estimated fair value. Essentially all these AROs relate to our underlying land parcels, including both owned properties and mineral leases. For the years ended December 31, we recognized ARO operating costs related to accretion of the liabilities and depreciation of the assets as follows:

in thousands	2012		2011		2010
ARO Operating Costs
Accretion		$7,956		$8,195		$8,641
Depreciation		5,599		7,242		11,516
Total		$13,555		$15,437		$20,157

ARO operating costs for our continuing operations are reported in cost of goods sold. AROs are reported within other noncurrent liabilities in our accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Reconciliations of the carrying amounts of our asset retirement obligations for the years ended December 31 are as follows:

in thousands	2012			2011
Asset Retirement Obligations
Balance at beginning of year		$153,979			$162,730
Liabilities incurred		127			1,738
Liabilities settled		(2,993	)		(16,630	)
Accretion expense		7,956			8,195
Revisions up (down), net		(8,997	)		(2,054	)
Balance at end of year		$150,072			$153,979

Revisions to our asset retirement obligations during 2012 relate primarily to extensions in the estimated settlement dates at numerous sites as a result of reduced sales activity.