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Commitments and Contingencies
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2022
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies Commitments and Contingencies
Litigation
In the ordinary conduct of our business, we are from time to time subject to lawsuits, investigations and claims, including environmental claims and employee-related matters. Although we cannot predict with certainty the ultimate resolution of lawsuits, investigations and claims asserted against us, including civil penalties or other enforcement actions, we do not believe that any currently pending legal proceeding or proceedings to which we are a party will have a material adverse effect on our financial statements. Certain environmental matters that have or may result in penalties or assessments are discussed below in the "Environmental, Health and Safety" section of this note.
On June 19, 2017, the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System filed a lawsuit in the Delaware Court of Chancery (Arkansas Teacher Retirement System v. Alon USA Energy, Inc., et al., Case No. 2017-0453), asserting claims for breach of fiduciary duty in connection with the business combination of Delek US Holdings, Inc. and Alon USA Energy, Inc. Following a mediation, the parties to the litigation agreed to a settlement and release of all claims of the plaintiff class in exchange for the defendants' agreement to pay $44.8 million into a settlement fund, of which our insurance carriers agreed to fund approximately $42.5 million under the applicable insurance policies and pursuant to varying limits and limitations. The settlement, in which the Company and other defendants expressly deny all assertions of wrongdoing or fault, was approved by the Court on October 29, 2021. In addition to the $2.3 million of the settlement that was not covered by insurance, we accrued $4.2 million of estimated unpaid and remaining legal fees. As of September 30, 2022 the remaining unpaid balance is $0.2 million, and is included in accrued expenses and other current liabilities on the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheet.
Self-insurance
With respect to workers’ compensation claims, we are subject to claims losses up to a $4.0 million deductible on a per accident basis, general liability claims up to $4.0 million on a per occurrence basis and medical claims for eligible full-time employees up to $0.3 million per covered individual per calendar year. We are also subject to auto liability claims losses up to a $4.0 million deductible on a per accident basis.
We have umbrella liability insurance available to each of our segments in an amount determined reasonable by management.
Environmental, Health and Safety
We are subject to extensive federal, state and local environmental and safety laws and regulations enforced by various agencies, including the EPA, the United States Department of Transportation, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, as well as numerous state, regional and local environmental, safety and pipeline agencies. These laws and regulations govern the discharge of materials into the environment, waste management practices, pollution prevention measures and the composition of the fuels we produce, as well as the safe operation of our plants and pipelines and the safety of our workers and the public. Numerous permits or other authorizations are required under these laws and regulations for the operation of our refineries, renewable fuels facilities, terminals, pipelines, underground storage tanks, trucks, rail cars and related operations, and may be subject to revocation, modification and renewal.
These laws and permits raise potential exposure to future claims and lawsuits involving environmental and safety matters which could include soil and water contamination, air pollution, personal injury and property damage allegedly caused by substances which we manufactured, handled, used, released or disposed of, transported, or that relate to pre-existing conditions for which we have assumed responsibility. We believe that our current operations are in substantial compliance with existing environmental and safety requirements. However, there have been and will continue to be ongoing discussions about environmental and safety matters between us and federal and state authorities, including notices of violations, citations and other enforcement actions, some of which have resulted or may result in changes to operating procedures and in capital expenditures. While it is often difficult to quantify future environmental or safety related expenditures, we anticipate that continuing capital investments and changes in operating procedures will be required for the foreseeable
future to comply with existing and new requirements, as well as evolving interpretations and more strict enforcement of existing laws and regulations.
As of September 30, 2022, we have recorded an environmental liability of approximately $115.1 million, primarily related to the estimated probable costs of remediating or otherwise addressing certain environmental issues of a non-capital nature at our refineries, as well as terminals, some of which we no longer own. This liability includes estimated costs for ongoing investigation and remediation efforts for known contamination of soil and groundwater. Approximately $3.1 million of the total liability is expected to be expended over the next 12 months, with most of the balance expended by 2032, although some costs may extend up to 30 years. In the future, we could be required to extend the expected remediation period or undertake additional investigations of our refineries, pipelines and terminal facilities, which could result in the recognition of additional remediation liabilities.
Included in our environmental liabilities as of both September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021 is a liability totaling $78.5 million related to a property that we historically operated as an asphalt and marine fuel terminal both as an owner and, subsequently, as a lessee under an in-substance lease agreement (the “License Agreement”). The License Agreement, which provided us the license to continue operating our asphalt and marine fuel terminal operations on the property for a term of ten years and expired in June 2020, also ascribed a contractual noncontingent indemnification guarantee to certain of our wholly-owned subsidiaries related to certain incremental environmental remediation activities, predicated on the completion of certain property development activities ascribed to the lessor. Our combined liability, comprised of our environmental liability plus the estimated fair value of the noncontingent guarantee liability, was recorded when Delek acquired the outstanding common stock of Alon, effective July 1, 2017 ("Delek/Alon Merger"). While the License Agreement expired in June 2020, it is currently being disputed in litigation where we have determined that no loss accrual is necessary and that the amount of incremental loss that is reasonably possible is immaterial as of September 30, 2022. Such ongoing dispute causes sufficient uncertainty around the release of risk and the appropriate joint and several liability allocations thereunder that we cannot currently determine a more reasonable estimate of the potential total contingent liability that is probable, nor do we have sufficient information to better estimate the fair value of any remaining noncontingent guarantee liability. As such, as of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, except for accretion and expenditures, our combined environmental liability related to the terminal and property remained unchanged.
We are also subject to various regulatory requirements related to carbon emissions and the compliance requirements to remit environmental credit obligations due to the EPA or other regulatory agencies, the most significant of which relates to the RINs Obligation subject to the EPA’s RFS-2 regulations (as defined in our accounting policies in Note 2 to the audited consolidated financial statements included in Item. 8 Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, of our December 31, 2021 Annual Report on Form 10-K). The RFS-2 regulations are highly complex and evolving, requiring us to periodically update our compliance systems. As part of our on-going monitoring and compliance efforts, on an annual basis we engage a third party to perform procedures to review our RINs inventory, processes and compliance. The results of such procedures may include procedural findings but may also include findings regarding the usage of RINs to meet past obligations, the treatment of exported RINs, and the propriety of RINs on-hand and related adjustments to our RINs inventory, which (to the extent they are valued) offset our RINs Obligation. Such adjustments may also require communication with the EPA if they involve reportable non-compliance which could lead to the assessment of penalties. Based on management’s review which was completed during the second quarter 2021, we recorded a RINs inventory true-up adjustment totaling $(12.3) million which increased our recorded RINs Obligation. We have also self-reported our related instances of non-compliance to the EPA, and while we cannot yet estimate the extent of penalties that may be assessed, it is not expected to be material in relation to our total RINs Obligation.
In June 2022, the EPA finalized volumes for compliance years 2020, 2021 and 2022 under the RFS program (as defined in our accounting policies in Note 2 to the audited consolidated financial statements included in Item. 8 Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, of our December 31, 2021 Annual Report on Form 10-K), announced supplemental volume obligations for compliance years 2022 and 2023 and established new provisions of the RFS which addressed bio-intermediates. Additionally, the EPA denied the petitions for small refinery exemptions for prior period compliance years.
Other Losses and Contingencies
Delek maintains property damage insurance policies which have varying deductibles. Delek also maintains business interruption insurance policies, with varying coverage limits and waiting periods. Covered losses in excess of the deductible and outside of the waiting period will be recoverable under the property and business interruption insurance policies.
El Dorado Refinery Fire
On February 27, 2021, our El Dorado refinery experienced a fire in its Penex unit. Contrary to initial assessments, and despite occurring during the early stages of turnaround activity, the facility did suffer operational disruptions as a result of the fire. During the nine months ended September 30, 2021, we incurred workers' compensation losses of $3.8 million associated with the fire, which is included in operating expenses in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of income. Additionally, we recognized accelerated depreciation of $1.0 million in the nine months ended September 30, 2021 due to property damaged in the fire, which was recovered during 2021. An additional $3.4 million was recognized as a gain, in excess of these losses, during the three months ended September 30, 2021. No expense was recorded related to the El Dorado refinery fire during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022. We continue to incur repair costs that may be recoverable under property and casualty insurance policies. In addition, during the three and
nine months ended September 30, 2022, we recognized a gain of $0.5 million and $8.1 million, respectively, related to business interruption claims. Such gain is included in other operating income in the condensed consolidated statements of income. If applicable, we accrue receivables for probable insurance or other third-party recoveries. Work to determine the full extent of covered business interruption and property and casualty losses and potential insurance claims is ongoing and may result in the future recognition of insurance recoveries.
Winter Storm Uri
During February 2021, the Company experienced a severe weather event ("Winter Storm Uri") which temporarily impacted operations at all of our refineries. Due to the extreme freezing conditions, we experienced reduced throughputs at our refineries as there was a disruption in the crude supply, as well as damages to various units at our refineries requiring additional operating and capital expenditures. We recognized additional operating expenses in the amount of $0.9 million and $16.8 million in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 due to property damaged in the freeze, which was recovered during 2021. No expense was recorded related to the Winter Storm Uri during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022. An additional $0.1 million was recognized as a gain in excess of losses during the nine months ended September 30, 2022. We continue to incur repair costs that may be recoverable under property and casualty insurance policies. In addition, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, we recognized a gain of $6.9 million and $17.9 million, respectively, related to business interruption claims. If applicable, we accrue receivables for probable insurance or other third-party recoveries. Work to determine the full extent of covered business interruption and property and casualty losses and potential insurance claims is ongoing and is expected to result in additional future recognition of insurance recoveries.
Crude Oil and Other Releases
We have experienced several crude oil and other releases involving our assets. There were no material releases that occurred during the nine months ended September 30, 2022. For other releases that occurred in prior years, we have received regulatory closure or a majority of the cleanup and remediation efforts are substantially complete. We expect regulatory closure in 2022 for the release sites that have not yet received it and do not anticipate material costs associated with any fines or penalties or to complete activities that may be needed to achieve regulatory closure. Expenses incurred for the remediation of these crude oil and other releases are included in operating expenses in our condensed consolidated statements of income.
Letters of Credit
As of September 30, 2022, we had in place letters of credit totaling approximately $212.6 million with various financial institutions securing obligations primarily with respect to our commodity transactions for the refining segment and certain of our insurance programs. There were no amounts drawn by beneficiaries of these letters of credit at September 30, 2022.