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CONTINGENCIES AND COMMITMENTS
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
CONTINGENCIES AND COMMITMENTS
CONTINGENCIES AND COMMITMENTS

Legal Proceedings

The Corporation has been named in a number of lawsuits that allege injury from exposure to asbestos.  To date, the Corporation has not been found liable for or paid any material sum of money in settlement in any case.  The Corporation believes its minimal use of asbestos in its past and current operations and the relatively non-friable condition of asbestos in its products makes it unlikely that it will face material liability in any asbestos litigation, whether individually or in the aggregate.  The Corporation maintains insurance coverage for these potential liabilities and believes adequate coverage exists to cover any unanticipated asbestos liability.

In December 2013, the Corporation, along with other unaffiliated parties, received a claim from Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL) filed in the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta, Judicial District of Calgary. The claim pertains to a January 2011 fire and explosion at a delayed coker unit at its Fort McMurray refinery that resulted in the injury of five CNRL employees, damage to property and equipment, and various forms of consequential loss, such as loss of profit, lost opportunities, and business interruption. The fire and explosion occurred when a CNRL employee bypassed certain safety controls and opened an operating coker unit. The total quantum of alleged damages arising from the incident has not been finalized, but is estimated to meet or exceed $1 billion.  The Corporation maintains various forms of commercial, property and casualty, product liability, and other forms of insurance; however, such insurance may not be adequate to cover the costs associated with a judgment against us. The Corporation is currently unable to estimate an amount, or range of potential losses, if any, from this matter. The Corporation believes it has adequate legal defenses and intends to defend this matter vigorously. The Corporation's financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows, could be materially affected during a future fiscal quarter or fiscal year by unfavorable developments or outcome regarding this claim.

In addition to the CNRL litigation, the Corporation is party to a number of other legal actions and claims, none of which individually or in the aggregate, in the opinion of management, are expected to have a material effect on the Corporation’s results of operations or financial position.

Letters of Credit and Other Financial Arrangements

The Corporation enters into standby letters of credit agreements and guarantees with financial institutions and customers primarily relating to guarantees of repayment, future performance on certain contracts to provide products and services, and to secure advance payments from certain international customers. At March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, there were $58.0 million and $54.3 million of stand-by letters of credit outstanding, respectively, and $13.4 million and $20.7 million of bank guarantees outstanding, respectively. As of March 31, 2015, letters of credit outstanding related to discontinuing operations were $14.6 million. In addition, the Corporation is required to provide the Nuclear Regulatory Commission financial assurance demonstrating its ability to cover the cost of decommissioning its Cheswick, Pennsylvania facility upon closure, though the Corporation does not intend to close this facility.  The Corporation has provided this financial assurance in the form of a $52.9 million surety bond.

AP1000 Program

Within the Corporation’s Power segment, our Electro-Mechanical Division is the reactor coolant pump (RCP) supplier for the Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear power plants under construction in China and the United States.  The terms of the AP1000 China and United States contracts include liquidated damage penalty provisions for failure to meet contractual delivery dates if the Corporation caused the delay and the delay was not excusable.  On October 10, 2013, the Corporation received a letter from Westinghouse stating entitlements to the maximum amount of liquidated damages allowable under the AP1000 China contract of approximately $25 million.  The Corporation would be liable for liquidated damages under the contract if certain contractual delivery dates were not met and if the Corporation was deemed responsible for the delay. As of March 31, 2015, the Corporation has not met certain contractual delivery dates under its AP 1000 contracts; however there are significant uncertainties as to which parties are responsible for the delays.  The Corporation believes it has adequate legal defenses and intends to vigorously defend this matter. Given the uncertainties surrounding the responsibility for the delays no accrual has been made for this matter as of March 31, 2015.  The range of possible loss is $0 to $41 million.