Contingencies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2015

Contingencies

Contingencies

Note 2 — Contingencies

The Company is involved from time to time in disputes and other litigation in the ordinary course of business and may encounter other contingencies, which may include environmental and other matters. There are no pending material legal proceedings to which the registrant is a party, or, to the actual knowledge of the Company, contemplated by any governmental authority.

In December 2008, the Company sold property it owned in Bridgeport, Connecticut to B&E Juices, Inc. for $2.5 million, of which $2.0 million was secured by a mortgage on the property. The property consisted of approximately four acres of land and 48,000 sq. feet of warehouse space. The property was the site of the Company’s original scissor factory which opened in 1887 and was closed in 1996.

Under the terms of the sale agreement, and as required by the Connecticut Transfer Act, the Company was required to remediate any environmental contamination on the property. During 2008, the Company hired an independent environmental consulting firm to conduct environmental studies in order to identify the extent of the environmental contamination on the property and to develop a remediation plan. As a result of those studies and the estimates prepared by the independent environmental consulting firm, the Company recorded an undiscounted liability of approximately $1.8 million related to the remediation of the property. This accrual included the costs of required investigation, remedial activities, and post-remediation operating and maintenance.

Remediation work on the project began in the third quarter of 2009 and was completed during the third quarter of 2012. In addition to the completed remediation work, the Company, with the assistance of its independent environmental consulting firm, was required to monitor contaminant levels on the property to ensure they comply with applicable governmental standards. During the first quarter of 2015, the Company received notice from the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection that it had accepted and approved the Company’s filing of its Form III Verification Report. As a result, the Company’s remediation obligations have been satisfied.

On April 7, 2014, the Company sold its Fremont, NC distribution facility for $850,000 in cash. The facility originally served as a manufacturing site for the Company’s scissors and rulers. Under the terms of the sale agreement, the Company is responsible to remediate any environmental contamination on the property. The Company hired an independent environmental consulting firm to conduct environmental studies in order to identify the extent of the environmental contamination on the property and to develop a remediation plan. As a result of those studies and the estimates prepared by the independent environmental consulting firm, and in conjunction with the sale of the property, the Company recorded a liability of $300,000 in the second quarter of 2014, related to the remediation of the property. The accrual included the total of then estimated costs of remedial activities and post-remediation monitoring costs.

Remediation work on the project began in the third quarter of 2014 and is expected to be completed in 2015. In addition to the remediation work, the Company, with the assistance of its independent environmental consulting firm, must continue to monitor contaminant levels on the property to ensure they comply with applicable North Carolina laws and regulations. The Company expects that the monitoring period will last a period of five years after the completion of the remediation and be completed by the end of 2020.

The change in the accrual for environmental remediation, included in other accrued liabilities and other liabilities on the condensed consolidated balance sheets for the six months ended June 30, 2015 follows (amounts in thousands):

	Balance at December 31, 2014		Estimated Costs		Payments			Balance at June 30, 2015
Fremont, NC	$	260	$	—	$	(14	)	$	246
Bridgeport, CT		6		—		(6	)		—
Total	$	266	$	—	$	(20	)	$	246