Commitments and Contingencies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2023

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Legal Proceedings

Linde Lawsuit. On December 23, 2019, Linde Engineering North America Inc. (Linde) filed a lawsuit in the District Court of Harris County, Texas alleging that Arrow Field Services, LLC, our consolidated subsidiary, and Crestwood Midstream breached a contract entered into in March 2018 under which Linde was to provide engineering, procurement and construction services to us related to the completion of the construction of the Bear Den II cryogenic processing plant.

A jury trial concluded on June 17, 2022, and a final judgement was entered on October 24, 2022. The final judgment includes an award of damages of approximately $20.7 million, a pre-judgement interest award of approximately $17.7 million and attorney fees and other costs of approximately $4.7 million. We have insurance coverage related to certain pre-judgement interest awards but have not recorded a receivable related to any potential insurance recovery at September 30, 2023. On January 9, 2023, we paid approximately $21.2 million to the Court Registry under protest to mitigate the impact of post-judgement interest. We filed a Notice of Appeal on January 13, 2023 and an Opening Appeal Brief on September 29, 2023. We are unable to predict the ultimate outcome of the appeal related to this matter.

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 September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, we had approximately $8.9 million and $35.0 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. At both September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, our accrual for environmental matters was less than $1.0 million and our potential exposure related to environmental matters was less than $1.0 million at September 30, 2023.

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 previously disposed of retail propane operations, provided they were reported prior to August 1, 2012. The following table summarizes CEQP’s and CMLP’s self-insurance reserves (in millions):


	CEQP				CMLP
	September 30, 2023		December 31, 2022		September 30, 2023		December 31, 2022
Self-insurance reserves(1)	$	5.7	$	5.6	$	5.0	$	4.8

(1)At September 30, 2023, CEQP and CMLP classified approximately $3.2 million and $2.7 million, respectively, of these reserves as other long-term liabilities on their consolidated balance sheets.

Indemnifications

We periodically provide indemnification arrangements related to assets or businesses we have sold. Our potential exposure under indemnification arrangements can range from a specified amount to an unlimited amount, depending on the nature of the claim, specificity as to duration, and the particular transaction. As of September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, we have no amounts accrued for these indemnifications.