Commitments and Contingencies

Legal Proceedings

Simplification Merger Lawsuits. On May 20, 2015, Lawrence G. Farber, a purported unitholder of Crestwood Midstream, filed a complaint in the Southern District of the United States, Houston Division, as a putative class action on behalf of Crestwood Midstream’s unitholders, entitled Lawrence G. Farber, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. Crestwood Midstream Partners LP, Crestwood Midstream GP LLC, Robert G. Phillips, Alvin Bledsoe, Michael G. France, Philip D. Gettig, Warren H. Gfellar, David Lumpkins, John J. Sherman, David Wood, Crestwood Equity Partners LP, Crestwood Equity GP LLC, CEQP ST Sub LLC, MGP GP, LLC, Crestwood Midstream Holdings LP, and Crestwood Gas Services GP LLC. This complaint alleges, among other things, that Crestwood Midstream’s general partner breached its fiduciary duties, certain individual defendants breached their fiduciary duties of loyalty and due care, and that other defendants aided and abetted such breaches.

On July 21, 2015, Isaac Aron, another purported unitholder of Crestwood Midstream, filed a complaint in the Southern District of the United States, Houston Division, as a putative class action on behalf of Crestwood Midstream’s unitholders, entitled Isaac Aron, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated vs. Robert G. Phillps, Alvin Bledsoe, Michael G. France, Philip D. Getting, Warren H. Gfeller, David Lumpkins, John J. Sherman, David Wood, Crestwood Midstream Partners, LP, Crestwood Midstream Holdings LP, Crestwood Midstream GP LLC, Crestwood Gas Services GP, LLC, Crestwood Equity Partners LP, Crestwood Equity GP LLC, CEQP ST Sub LLC and MGP GP, LLC. The complaint alleges, among other things, that Crestwood Midstream’s general partner and certain individual defendants violated Sections 14(a) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 14a-9 by filing an alleged incomplete and misleading Form S-4 Registration Statement with the SEC.

On August 12, 2015, the defendants filed a motion to consolidate the Farber and Aron cases, which the court granted on September 4, 2015. Farber subsequently dismissed his claims against all the defendants on September 16, 2015. Aron filed a motion for temporary restraining order and requested an expedited preliminary injunction hearing, which had been scheduled for September 23, 2015. On September 22, 2015, however, the parties entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with respect to a proposed settlement of the Aron lawsuit. The settlement contemplated by the MOU is subject to a number of conditions, including notice to the class, limited confirmatory discovery and final court approval of the settlement. In October 2016, the court approved the settlement. On November 7, 2016, a unitholder filed an appeal of the settlement. We anticipate a ruling on the appeal in mid-2017, and if is denied, the settlement will become final. We do not expect the settlement to have a material impact to our consolidated financial statements.

Property Taxes. Tres Palacios filed several lawsuits in Matagorda County for tax years 2011, 2012 and 2013 alleging that the Matagorda County Appraisal District (MCAD) assessed taxable value above the fair market value and on an unequal and non-uniform basis compared to other properties. In conjunction with its sale of Tres Palacios to Tres Holdings, Crestwood Equity indemnified Tres Holdings for certain tax matters, including this litigation. In January 2015, Crestwood Equity received a refund related to the 2011 tax year at the conclusion of the litigation related to that tax year. For the 2012 and 2013 tax years, the MCAD asserted a taxable value that would result in property taxes of approximately $7 million for each of those years, while Tres Palacios asserted a taxable value that would result in property taxes of less than $2 million in each year. Tres Palacios paid approximately $8.6 million to Matagorda County in total for those two tax years. A bench trial was held in October 2015 related to the 2012 and 2013 tax years. In June 2016, the court issued a final judgment on the 2012 and 2013 property tax years which resulted in Crestwood Equity recording additional net property tax expense (including interest and penalties) of approximately $2.9 million in 2016. In September 2016, Crestwood Equity paid an additional $2.1 million to Matagorda County to settle the litigation related to the 2012 and 2013 tax years.

General. We are periodically involved in litigation proceedings. If we determine that a negative outcome is probable and the amount of loss is reasonably estimable, then we accrue the estimated amount. The results of litigation proceedings cannot be predicted with certainty. We could incur judgments, enter into settlements or revise our expectations regarding the outcome of certain matters, and such developments could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or cash flows in the period in which the amounts are paid and/or accrued. As of December 31, 2016 and 2015, both CEQP and CMLP had less than $0.1 million accrued for outstanding legal matters. Based on currently available information, we believe it is remote that future costs related to known contingent liability exposures for which we can estimate will exceed current accruals by an amount that would have a material adverse impact on our consolidated financial statements. As we learn new facts concerning contingencies, we reassess our position both with respect to accrued liabilities and other potential exposures.

Any loss estimates are inherently subjective, based on currently available information, and are subject to management’s judgment and various assumptions. Due to the inherently subjective nature of these estimates and the uncertainty and unpredictability surrounding the outcome of legal proceedings, actual results may differ materially from any amounts that have been accrued.

Regulatory Compliance

In the ordinary course of our business, we are subject to various laws and regulations. In the opinion of our management, compliance with current laws and regulations will not have a material effect on our results of operations, cash flows or financial condition.

Environmental Compliance

Our operations are subject to stringent and complex laws and regulations pertaining to worker health, safety, and the environment. We are subject to laws and regulations at the federal, state, regional and local levels that relate to air and water quality, hazardous and solid waste management and disposal and other environmental matters. The cost of planning, designing, constructing and operating our facilities must incorporate compliance with environmental laws and regulations and safety standards. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations may trigger a variety of administrative, civil and potentially criminal enforcement measures.

During 2014, we experienced three releases totaling approximately 28,000 barrels of produced water on our Arrow water gathering system located on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota. We immediately notified the National Response Center, the Three Affiliated Tribes and numerous other regulatory authorities, and thereafter contained and cleaned up the releases completely and placed the impacted segments of these water lines back into service. In May 2015, we experienced a release of approximately 5,200 barrels of produced water on our Arrow water gathering system, immediately notified numerous regulatory authorities and other third parties, and thereafter contained and cleaned up the releases.

In October 2014, we received data requests from the EPA related to the 2014 water releases and we responded to the requests during the first half of 2015. In April 2015, the EPA issued a Notice of Potential Violation (NOPV) under the Clean Water Act relating to the 2014 water releases. We responded to the NOPV in May 2015, and have commenced settlement discussions with the EPA concerning the NOPV. On March 3, 2015, we received a grand jury subpoena from the United States Attorney’s Office in Bismarck, North Dakota, seeking documents and information relating to the largest of the three 2014 water releases, and we provided the requested information during the second quarter of 2015. In August 2015, we received a notice of violation from the Three Affiliated Tribes’ Environmental Division related to our 2014 produced water releases on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. The notice of violation imposes fines and requests reimbursements exceeding $1.1 million; however, the notice of violation was stayed on September 15, 2015, upon our posting of a performance bond for the amount contemplated by the notice and pending the outcome of ongoing settlement discussions with the regulatory agencies asserting jurisdiction over the 2014 produced water releases. We continue to work closely with the regulatory agencies to settle the claims.

We may potentially be subject to fines and penalties as a result of the water releases. We will continue our remediation efforts to ensure the impacted lands are restored to their prior state. We believe these releases are insurable events under our policies, and we have notified our carriers of these events. We have not recorded an insurance receivable as of December 31, 2016.

At December 31, 2016 and 2015, our accrual of approximately $2.1 million and $1.7 million is based on our undiscounted estimate of amounts we will spend on compliance with environmental and other regulations, and any associated fines or penalties. We estimate that our potential liability for reasonably possible outcomes related to our environmental exposures (including the Arrow water releases described above) could range from approximately $2.1 million to $3.6 million at December 31, 2016.

Self-Insurance

We utilize third-party insurance subject to varying retention levels of self-insurance, which management considers prudent. Such self-insurance relates to losses and liabilities primarily associated with medical claims, workers’ compensation claims and general, product, vehicle and environmental liability. Losses are accrued based upon management’s estimates of the aggregate liability for claims incurred using certain assumptions followed in the insurance industry and based on past experience. The primary assumption utilized is actuarially determined loss development factors. The loss development factors are based primarily on historical data. Our self insurance reserves could be affected if future claim developments differ from the historical trends. We believe changes in health care costs, trends in health care claims of our employee base, accident frequency and severity and other factors could materially affect the estimate for these liabilities. We continually monitor changes in employee demographics, incident and claim type and evaluate our insurance accruals and adjust our accruals based on our evaluation of these qualitative data points. We are liable for the development of claims for our disposed retail propane operations, provided they were reported prior to August 1, 2012. At December 31, 2016 and 2015, CEQP’s self-insurance reserves were $15.6 million and $17.2 million. We estimate that $10.6 million of this balance will be paid subsequent to December 31, 2017. As such, CEQP has classified $10.6 million in other long-term liabilities on its consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2016. At December 31, 2016 and 2015, CMLP’s self-insurance reserves were $12.2 million and $11.4 million. CMLP estimates that $8.0 million of this balance will be paid subsequent to December 31, 2017. As such, CMLP has classified $8.0 million in other long-term liabilities on its consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2016.

Contingent Consideration - Antero

In connection with the acquisition of Antero Resources Appalachian Corporation (Antero), we agreed to pay Antero conditional consideration in the form of potential additional cash payments of up to $40.0 million, depending on the achievement of certain defined average annual production levels achieved during 2012, 2013 and 2014. In February 2015, we paid Antero $40.0 million to settle the liability under the earn-out provision. This amount is reflected in changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of effects from acquisitions under operating activities in our consolidated statements of cash flows.

Commitments and Purchase Obligations

Operating Leases. We also maintain operating leases in the ordinary course of our business activities. These leases include those for office buildings, crude oil railroad cars and other operating facilities and equipment. The terms of the agreements vary from 2017 until 2032.

Future minimum lease payments under our noncancelable operating leases for the next five years ending December 31 and in total thereafter consist of the following (in millions):



Year Ending December 31,
2017	$	18.3
2018	16.3
2019	14.4
2020	9.6
2021	8.4
Thereafter	18.5
Total minimum lease payments	$	85.5

Our rent expense for operating leases for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, totaled $25.5 million, $37.4 million and $41.8 million.

Purchase Commitments. We periodically enter into agreements with suppliers to purchase fixed quantities of NGLs, distillates, crude oil and natural gas at fixed prices. At December 31, 2016, the total of these firm purchase commitments was $312.0 million, substantially all of which will occur over the course of the next twelve months. We also enter into non-binding agreements with suppliers to purchase quantities of NGLs, distillates and natural gas at variable prices at future dates at the then prevailing market prices.

We have entered into certain purchase commitments primarily related to our marketing, supply and logistics and gathering and processing segments. At December 31, 2016, the total of our marketing, supply and logistics operations’ firm purchase commitments was approximately $13.1 million and primarily relate to the development of a rail terminal project and certain upgrades to our US Salt facility. At December 31, 2016, our gathering and processing segment’s purchase commitments totaled approximately $19.7 million and primarily relate to future growth projects and maintenance obligations. The majority of the purchases associated with these commitments are expected to occur over the next twelve months.

Guarantees and Indemnifications. We are involved in various joint ventures that sometimes require financial and performance guarantees. In a financial guarantee, we are obligated to make payments if the guaranteed party fails to make payments under, or violates the terms of, the financial arrangement. In a performance guarantee, we provide assurance that the guaranteed party will execute on the terms of the contract. If they do not, we are required to perform on their behalf. We also periodically provide indemnification arrangements related to assets or businesses we have sold. For a further description of our guarantees associated with our joint ventures, see Note 6, and for a further description of our guarantees associated with our assets or businesses we have sold, see Legal Proceedings above and Note 9.

Our potential exposure under guarantee and indemnification arrangements can range from a specified amount to an unlimited dollar amount, depending on the nature of the claim, specificity as to duration, and the particular transaction. As of December 31, 2016, we have no amounts accrued for these guarantees.