SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Narrative) (Details) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($) state item segment factor	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2019 USD ($)
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]
State of incorporation		New Jersey
Number of states | state		20
Number of demographic factors | factor		3
Revenues from discontinued operations		$ 0	$ 0	$ 0
Income tax receivables		922	106,980
Bad debt expense		251	812	(1,190)
Write-offs of accounts receivables		1,291	1,384	1,544
Capitalized software costs		4,155	4,446
Capitalized software costs during the year		$ 2,213	1,988	152
Number of Rabbi Trust estabished | item		2
Net gains (losses) of the Rabbi Trust investments		$ (2,741)	2,441	2,741
Unrealized net gains (losses) of the Rabbi Trust investments		(4,386)	(3,618)	1,599
Loss on impairment of long-lived assets			0	10,506
Goodwill		$ 3,165,396	$ 3,122,321	3,094,824
Percentage of goodwill in total assets		32.00%	33.00%
Percentage of net property, plant & equipment in total assets		43.00%
Number of operating segments | segment		4
Number of Reporting Units | item		17
Percentage of net other intangible assets in total assets		11.00%
Stripping costs		$ 78,911	$ 65,944	55,987
Capitalized pre-production stripping costs		95,800	81,241
Asset Retirement Obligation		225,726	218,117	223,872
Spread between the amount accrued and the maximum environmental loss		3,105
Maximum self-insurance coverage per occurrence for losses related to workers' compensation		2,000
Maximum self-insurance coverage per occurrence for automotive and general/product liability		$ 3,000
Accounting Standards Codification Topic 740 - Income Taxes recognition threshold for uncertain tax positions		50.00%
Goodwill impairment charges		$ 0	0	0
Reclassification of stranded tax effects			$ (29,629)
Expected return on plan assets		7.00%	7.00%
Goodwill [Member]
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]
Number of Reporting Units | item		9
Accounting Standards Update 2016-09 [Member]
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]
Tax reduction from net excess tax benefits from share based compensation		$ 20,137	$ 22,962	24,847
ASU 2017-07 [Member]
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]
All other components		16,539	8,102	$ 13,715
Accounting Standards Update 2018-02 [Member]
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]
Reclassification of stranded tax effects		$ 29,629
Minimum [Member] | Machinery and Equipment [Member]
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]
Estimated service lives		3 years
Minimum [Member] | Buildings [Member]
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]
Estimated service lives		7 years
Minimum [Member] | Land Improvements [Member]
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]
Estimated service lives		8 years
Maximum [Member] | Machinery and Equipment [Member]
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]
Estimated service lives		35 years
Maximum [Member] | Buildings [Member]
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]
Estimated service lives		20 years
Maximum [Member] | Land Improvements [Member]
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]
Estimated service lives		20 years
Tax Year 2017 [Member]
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]
Income tax receivables			$ 106,000
Forecast [Member]
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]
Expected return on plan assets	5.75%
Subsequent Event [Member] | ASU 2016-02 [Member]
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]
Operating Lease, Liability, Statement of Financial Position [Extensible List]					us-gaap:Liabilities
Operating Lease, Liability					$ 430,000