SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Narrative) (Details) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($) item segment state factor	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2019 USD ($)
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]
State of incorporation		NJ
Number of states | state		20
Number of demographic factors | factor		3
Revenues from discontinued operations		$ 0	$ 0	$ 0
Bad debt expense		1,426	251	812
Write-offs of accounts receivables		809	1,291	1,384
Capitalized software costs		2,976	4,155
Capitalized software costs during the year		$ 1,506	2,213	1,988
Number of Rabbi Trust estabished | item		2
Net gains (losses) of the Rabbi Trust investments		$ 3,993	(2,741)	2,441
Unrealized net gains (losses) of the Rabbi Trust investments		3,729	(4,386)	(3,618)
Loss on impairment of long-lived assets		0	0	0
Goodwill		3,167,061	3,165,396	3,122,321
Goodwill impairment charges		$ 0	$ 0	0
Percentage of goodwill in total assets		30.00%	32.00%
Percentage of net property, plant & equipment in total assets		41.00%
Number of operating segments | segment		4
Number of Reporting Units | item		17
Percentage of net other intangible assets in total assets		10.00%
Stripping costs		$ 86,090	$ 78,911	65,944
Capitalized pre-production stripping costs		92,759	95,800
Asset Retirement Obligation		210,323	225,726	218,117
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
Expected return on plan assets		5.75%	7.00%
Operating Lease, Liability		$ 418,013
Income tax benefit recognition threshold more likely than not		50.00%
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		$ 21,020	$ 20,137	$ 22,962
ASU 2016-02 [Member]
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]
Operating Lease, Liability					$ 442,697
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
Forecast [Member]
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]
Expected return on plan assets	5.75%