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SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Narrative) (Details) $ in Thousands	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	11 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($) state item	Mar. 31, 2020 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2020	Dec. 31, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($) item segment state factor	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)
Change in Accounting Estimate [Line Items]
State of incorporation					NJ
Number of states \| state	20				20
Number of demographic factors \| factor					3
Revenues from discontinued operations					$ 0	$ 0	$ 0
Bad debt expense					1,091	1,426	251
Write-offs of accounts receivables					2,046	809	1,291
Capitalized software costs	$ 2,110				2,110	2,976
Capitalized software costs during the year					$ 1,116	1,506	2,213
Number of Rabbi Trust estabished \| item	2				2
Net gains (losses) of the Rabbi Trust investments					$ 4,469	3,993	(2,741)
Unrealized net gains (losses) of the Rabbi Trust investments					4,140	3,729	(4,386)
Loss on impairment of long-lived assets					0	0	0
Goodwill	$ 3,172,112				$ 3,172,112	$ 3,167,061	3,165,396
Percentage of goodwill in total assets	27.00%				27.00%	30.00%
Percentage of net property, plant & equipment in total assets	38.00%				38.00%
Number of operating segments \| segment					4
Number of Reporting Units \| item					17
Percentage of net other intangible assets in total assets	10.00%				10.00%
Stripping costs	$ 90,432				$ 90,432	$ 86,090	78,911
Capitalized pre-production stripping costs	92,880				92,880	92,759
Asset retirement obligations	283,163				283,163	210,323	225,726
Spread between the amount accrued and the maximum environmental loss	5,905				5,905
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					$ 10,000
Accounting Standards Codification Topic 740 - Income Taxes recognition threshold for uncertain tax positions					50.00%
Goodwill impairment charges					$ 0	0	0
Retained earnings	3,274,107				3,274,107	2,895,871
Cumulative-effect on retained earnings	$ 6,027,330				6,027,330	$ 5,621,857	5,202,903	$ 4,968,893
Expected return on plan assets	5.25%		5.75%			5.75%
Operating Lease, Liability	$ 436,551				$ 436,551
Income tax benefit recognition threshold more likely than not					50.00%
Cash tax benefit		$ 13,301
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					$ 8,368	$ 21,020	$ 20,137
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					3 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				5.25%