COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (Details)	12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended							12 Months Ended		21 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($) sites claims Lawsuits	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Legal and Administrative Proceedings USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Legal and Administrative Proceedings USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Ville Mercier CAD Municipalities	Dec. 31, 1999 Ville Mercier Municipalities	Dec. 31, 1968 Ville Mercier Permits	Dec. 31, 2012 Ville Mercier USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Ville Mercier USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Superfund Proceedings Sites	Dec. 31, 2002 Superfund Proceedings Sites	May 31, 2006 Superfund Proceedings sites	Dec. 31, 2002 Wichita Property A	Dec. 31, 2012 Marine Shale Site USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Marine Shale Site USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Certain Other Third Party Sites USD ($) Sites	Dec. 31, 2002 PRP [Member] Sites	Dec. 31, 2012 Safety-Kleen [Member] Sites	Dec. 31, 2012 Federal and State Enforcement Actions USD ($) Proceedings	Dec. 31, 2002 Safety-Kleen [Member] PRP [Member] Sites
Legal and Administrative Proceedings
Loss Contingency Accrual, at Carrying Value	$ 38,600,000	$ 30,300,000		$ 34,500,000
Possible increase in legal and administrative proceedings				3,500,000	2,700,000
Reserves relating to legal and administrative proceedings																				4,100,000
Number of permits issued by government, for dumping organic liquid								2
Number of neighboring municipalities filing separate legal proceedings against the Mercier Subsidiary and the Government of Quebec							3
Number of municipalities filing separate legal proceedings, total						4
Damages claimed by municipalities						1,600,000
Suit against alleged past costs						17,400,000
Accrued remedial liabilities	167,220,000	135,320,000	137,613,000	34,500,000					14,200,000	13,300,000
Loss Contingency, Claims Settled and Dismissed, Number	27
Superfund Proceedings
Number of sites subject to proceedings under federal or state superfund laws											119
Number of sites owned by the entity subject to proceedings under federal or state superfund laws	119										2
Number of sites owned by third parties subject to proceedings under federal or state Superfund laws												117						50			67
Third party sites arising out of acquisition of assets	35											35
Third party sites requiring expenditure on remediation											6
Number of sites for which environmental remediation expense is settled											16
Number of sites for which environmental remediation expense is not required											13
Number of sites owned by third party excluded from cleanup or related liabilities											1
State-designated superfund site acquired, total acres														1,400
Remaining reserves relating to listed third party sites															4,400,000	3,800,000
Indemnification agreement with third party sites																	11		16
Notices received from owners of third party sites seeking indemnification from the company													5
Additional cleanup liabilities, maximum																	100,000
Federal and State Enforcement Actions
Number of proceedings relating to waste treatment	64																			4
Sanctions relating to waste treatment																				$ 100,000