Commitments and Contingencies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2011

Notes to Financial Statements [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

12. Commitments and Contingencies

Litigation and Other Claims

The Company is involved in legal, tax and regulatory proceedings before various courts, regulatory commissions and governmental agencies regarding matters arising in the ordinary course of business.

Will Price.Will Price, an individual, filed actions in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas for damages against a number of companies, including the Company, alleging mis-measurement of natural gas volumes and Btu content, resulting in lower royalties to mineral interest owners. On September 19, 2009, the Court denied plaintiffs' request for class certification. Plaintiffs have filed a motion for reconsideration, which the Court denied on March 31, 2010. The Company believes that its measurement practices conformed to the terms of its FERC natural gas tariffs, which were filed with and approved by FERC. As a result, the Company believes that it has meritorious defenses to the Will Price lawsuit (including FERC-related affirmative defenses, such as the filed rate/tariff doctrine, the primary/exclusive jurisdiction of FERC, and the defense that the Company complied with the terms of its tariffs). In the event that Plaintiffs refuse Panhandle's pending request for voluntary dismissal, Panhandle will continue to vigorously defend the case. The Company believes it has no liability associated with this proceeding.

East End Project. The East End project involved the installation of a total of approximately 31 miles of pipeline in and around Tuscola, Illinois, Montezuma, Indiana and Zionsville, Indiana.  Construction began in 2007 and was completed in the second quarter of 2008.  The Company sought recovery of each contractor's share of approximately $50 million of cost overruns from the construction contractor, an inspection contractor and the construction management contractor for improper welding, inspection and construction management of the East End Project.  Certain of the contractors filed counterclaims against the Company for alleged underpayments of approximately $18 million.  The Company settled with three defendants prior to trial in Harris County, Texas. Trial began on May 16, 2011 and after the fourth week of trial a settlement was reached with the last defendant, Acuren.  The various settlements resulted in the Company receiving a total of approximately $16 million and $9 million for reimbursement of previously incurred legal expenses associated with the proceeding and project cost overruns, respectively.

Liabilities for Litigation and Other Claims

The Company establishes reserves for litigation and other claim costs when management believes a loss is probable and reasonably estimable. As of June 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010, the Company recorded litigation and other claim-related accrued liabilities of $1.9 million and $1.8 million, respectively. The Company does not have any material litigationor other claim contingency matters assessed as reasonably possible.  

Environmental Matters

The Company's operations are subject to federal, state and local laws, rules and regulations regarding water quality, hazardous and solid waste management, air quality control and other environmental matters. These laws, rules and regulations require the Company to conduct its operations in a specified manner and to obtain and comply with a wide variety of environmental registrations, licenses, permits, inspections and other approvals. Failure to comply with applicable environmental laws, rules and regulations may expose the Company to significant fines, penalties and/or interruptions in operations. The Company's environmental policies and procedures are designed to achieve compliance with such applicable laws and regulations. These evolving laws and regulations and claims for damages to property, employees, other persons and the environment resulting from current or past operations may result in significant expenditures and liabilities in the future. The Company engages in a process of updating and revising its procedures for the ongoing evaluation of its operations to identify potential environmental exposures and enhance compliance with regulatory requirements.

Environmental Remediation

The Company is responsible for environmental remediation at certain sites on its natural gas transmission systems for contamination resulting from the past use of lubricants containing PCBs in compressed air systems; the past use of paints containing PCBs; and the prior use of wastewater collection facilities and other on-site disposal areas. The Company has implemented a program to remediate such contamination. The primary remaining remediation activity on the Panhandle systems is associated with past use of paints containing PCBs or PCB impacts to equipment surfaces and to a building at one location. The PCB assessments are ongoing and the related estimated remediation costs are subject to further change.

Other remediation typically involves the management of contaminated soils and may involve remediation of groundwater. Activities vary with site conditions and locations, the extent and nature of the contamination, remedial requirements, complexity and sharing of responsibility. The ultimate liability and total costs associated with these sites will depend upon many factors. If remediation activities involve statutory joint and several liability provisions, strict liability, or cost recovery or contribution actions, the Company could potentially be held responsible for contamination caused by other parties. In some instances, the Company may share liability associated with contamination with other PRPs. The Company may also benefit from contractual indemnities that cover some or all of the cleanup costs. These sites are generally managed in the normal course of business or operations.

The Company's environmental remediation activities are undertaken in cooperation with and under the oversight of appropriate regulatory agencies, enabling the Company under certain circumstances to take advantage of various voluntary cleanup programs in order to perform the remediation in the most effective and efficient manner.

Environmental Remediation Liabilities

The table below reflects the amount of accrued liabilities recorded in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet at the dates indicated to cover environmental remediation actions where management believes a loss is probable and reasonably estimable. The Company does not have any material environmental remediation matters assessed as reasonably possible.

	June 30,		December 31,
	2011		2010
		(In thousands)
Current	$	2,340	$	4,273
Noncurrent		5,228		4,498
Total environmental liabilities	$	7,568	$	8,771

Other Commitments and Contingencies

Controlled Group Pension Liabilities. Southern Union Company (including certain of its divisions) sponsors a number of defined benefit pension plans for employees. Under applicable pension and tax laws, upon being acquired by Southern Union, the Company became a member of Southern Union Company's “controlled group” with respect to those plans and, along with Southern Union Company and any other members of that group, is jointly and severally liable for any failure by Southern Union (along with any other persons that may be or become a sponsor of any such plan) to fund any of these pension plans or to pay any unfunded liabilities that these plans may have if they are ever terminated. In addition, if any of the obligations of any of these pension plans is not paid when due, a lien in favor of that plan or the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation may be created against the assets of each member of Southern Union Company's controlled group, including the Company and each of its subsidiaries. Based on the latest actuarial information available as of December 31, 2010, the aggregate amount of the projected benefit obligations of these pension plans was approximately $193.7 million and the estimated fair value of all of the assets of these plans was approximately $127 million.

See Note 5 – Regulation and Rates for other potential contingent matters applicable to the Company.

Future Regulatory Compliance Commitments

Air Quality Control.In August 2010, EPA finalized a rule that requires reductions in a number of pollutants, including formaldehyde and carbon monoxide, for certain engines regardless of size at Area Sources (sources that emit less than ten tons per year of any one Hazardous Air Pollutant (HAP) or twenty-five tons per year of all HAPs) and engines less than 500 horsepower at Major Sources (sources that emit ten tons per year or more of any one HAP or twenty-five tons per year of all HAPs). Compliance is required by October 2013. It is anticipated that the limits adopted in this rule will be used in a future EPA rule that is scheduled to be finalized in 2013, with compliance required in 2016. This future rule is expected to require reductions in formaldehyde and carbon monoxide emissions from engines greater than 500 horsepower at Major Sources.

Nitrogen oxides are the primary air pollutant from natural gas-fired engines. Nitrogen oxide emissions may form ozone in the atmosphere. EPA lowered the ozone standard to seventy-five parts per billion (ppb) in 2008 with compliance anticipated in 2013 to 2015. In January 2010, EPA proposed lowering the standard to sixty to seventy ppb in lieu of the seventy-five ppb standard, with compliance required in 2014 or later.

In January 2010, EPA finalized a 100 ppb one-hour nitrogen dioxide standard. The rule requires the installation of new nitrogen dioxide monitors in urban communities and roadways by 2013. This new monitoring may result in additional nitrogen dioxide non-attainment areas. In addition, ambient air quality modeling may be required to demonstrate compliance with the new standard.

The Company is currently reviewing the potential impact of the August 2010 Area Source National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants rule and proposed rules regarding HAPs and ozone and the new nitrogen dioxide standard on its operations and the potential costs associated with the installation of emission control systems on its existing engines. The ultimate costs associated with these activities cannot be estimated with any certainty at this time, but the Company believes, based on the current understanding of the current and proposed rules, such costs will not have a material adverse effect on its consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment set certain contingency measures as part of the agency's ozone maintenance plan for the Kansas City area. These measures must be revised to conform to the requirements of the EPA ozone standard discussed above. As such, the costs associated with these activities cannot be estimated with any certainty at this time, but the Company believes, based on the current understanding of the proposed plan, such costs will not have a material adverse effect on its consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

SPCC Rules. In 2008 and 2009, the EPA adopted amendments to the SPCC rules with the stated intention of providing greater clarity, tailoring requirements and streamlining requirements. On October 7, 2010, EPA amended the compliance date for certain facilities from November 10, 2010 to November 10, 2011. The Company is currently reviewing the impact of the modified regulations on its operations and may incur costs for tank integrity testing, alarms and other associated corrective actions as well as potential upgrades to containment structures. Costs associated with such activities cannot be estimated with certainty at this time, but the Company believes, based on the current understanding of the current and proposed rules, such costs will not have a material adverse effect on its consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.