COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

NOTE 10 - COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

The Company, in the normal course of business, is subject to a number of lawsuits and claims both actual and potential in nature.  While management believes the resolution of these claims and lawsuits will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial position or results of operations or cash flows, claims and legal proceedings are subject to inherent uncertainties, and unfavorable outcomes could occur and could include amounts in excess of any accruals which management has established.  Were such unfavorable final outcomes to occur, it is possible that they could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

Under our Certificate of Incorporation, the Company has agreed to indemnify our officers and directors for certain events or occurrences while the officer or director is, or was, serving at our request in such capacity.  The maximum potential amount of future payments the Company could be required to make under these indemnification agreements is unlimited; however, the Company has a directors and officers liability insurance policy that covers a portion of our exposure.  As a result of our insurance policy coverage, the Company believes the estimated fair value of these indemnification agreements is minimal.  The Company has no liabilities recorded for these agreements as of March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016.

An environmental investigation, undertaken to assess areas of possible contamination, was completed at the Company’s facility in Jundiaí, São Paulo, Brazil. The facility is primarily an internal supplier of anodized aluminum components for certain of our dispensing systems.  The testing indicated that soil and groundwater in certain areas of the facility were impacted above acceptable levels established by local regulations.  In March 2017, the Company reported the findings to the relevant environmental authority, the Environmental Company of the State of São Paulo – CETESB.   The Company is in the preliminary stages of further assessing the affected areas to determine the full extent of the impact and the scope of any required remediation.  Initial costs for the further investigation and possible remediation, based on assumptions about the area of impact and customary remediation costs, are estimated to be in the range of $1.5 million to $3.0 million.  The range of possible loss associated with this environmental contingency is subject to considerable uncertainty due to the incomplete status of the investigation and preliminary nature of our discussions with CETESB. We will continue to evaluate the range of likely costs as the investigation proceeds and we have further clarity on the nature and extent of remediation that will be required. We note that the contamination, or any failure on the part of the Company to complete its remediation in a timely manner, could potentially result in fines or penalties levied on the Company. The Company has accrued a $1.5 million operating expense in the first quarter of 2017 relating to this contingency, which will be periodically reviewed, and adjusted as necessary, as the matter continues to evolve.