Commitments and Contingencies Narrative (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified				9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		225 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013 HNH	Sep. 30, 2013 HNH Superfund [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 HHEM [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 BNS Subsidiary [Member] claim	Dec. 31, 2012 BNS Subsidiary [Member] claim	Sep. 30, 2013 BNS Subsidiary [Member] Insurance Claims [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 BNS Subsidiary [Member] Insurance Claims [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Minimum defendant	Sep. 30, 2012 Maximum BNS Subsidiary [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Sold Parcel [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Former Owner / Operator [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Costs [Member] First Joint Venture Partner of Former Owner / Operator [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Costs [Member] Hhem and HandH [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Costs [Member] HHEM [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Accrual for environmental matters	$ 3,703	$ 7,320	$ 2,500	$ 200	$ 200
Insurance Settlements Receivable			1,100
Environmental Exit Costs, Anticipated Cost												100
Investigation and remediation costs															3,300	1,000
Ownership Responsibility For Site Investigation and Remediation Costs Percentage Allocation													75.00%	37.50%	25.00%
Accrual for Environmental Loss Contingencies, Payments				2,200											1,000
Loss Contingency, Total Claims (in number of claims)						1,220	1,160
Claims, litigation matters (in number of claims)						212	234
Loss contingency, number of defendants (in defendants)										100
Number of claims, dismissed, settled or granted summary judgement and closed (in claims)						1,008	926
Claims settled, average settlement value											3
Insurance, coverage limit								183,000
Self insurance retention									2,282
Accrual relating to open and active claims								$ 1,020	$ 1,203