(15) Commitments and Contingencies

(a) Leases—Lessee

We have operating leases for office space, office and field equipment.

The following table summarizes our remaining non-cancelable future payments under operating leases with initial or remaining non-cancelable lease terms in excess of one year (in millions):



2018	$	14.3
2019	10.9
2020	8.6
2021	8.6
2022	8.6
Thereafter	58.6
Total	$	109.6

Operating lease rental expense was approximately $54.5 million, $59.6 million and $66.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

(b) Change of Control and Severance Agreements

Certain members of our management are parties to severance and change of control agreements with the Operating Partnership. The severance and change in control agreements provide those individuals with severance payments in certain circumstances and prohibit such individuals from, among other things, competing with the General Partner or its affiliates during his or her employment. In addition, the severance and change of control agreements prohibit subject individuals from, among other things, disclosing confidential information about the General Partner or interfering with a client or customer of the General Partner or its affiliates, in each case during his or her employment and for certain periods (including indefinite periods) following the termination of such person’s employment.

The operation of pipelines, plants and other facilities for the gathering, processing, transmitting, stabilizing, fractionating, storing or disposing of natural gas, NGLs, crude oil, condensate, brine and other products is subject to stringent and complex laws and regulations pertaining to health, safety and the environment. As an owner, partner or operator of these facilities, we must comply with United States laws and regulations at the federal, state and local levels that relate to air and water quality, hazardous and solid waste management and disposal, oil spill prevention, climate change, endangered species and other environmental matters. The cost of planning, designing, constructing and operating pipelines, plants, and other facilities must account for compliance with environmental laws and regulations and safety standards. Federal, state, or local administrative decisions, developments in the federal or state court systems, or other governmental or judicial actions may influence the interpretation and enforcement of environmental laws and regulations and may thereby increase compliance costs. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations may trigger a variety of administrative, civil and potentially criminal enforcement measures, including citizen suits, which can include the assessment of monetary penalties, the imposition of remedial requirements, and the issuance of injunctions or restrictions on operation. Management believes that, based on currently known information, compliance with these laws and regulations will not have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition or cash flows. However, we cannot provide assurance that future events, such as changes in existing laws, regulations, or enforcement policies, the promulgation of new laws or regulations, or the discovery or development of new factual circumstances will not cause us to incur material costs. Environmental regulations have historically become more stringent over time, and thus, there can be no assurance as to the amount or timing of future expenditures for environmental compliance or remediation.

As previously disclosed, in February 2016, a spill occurred at our Kill Buck Station in our Ohio operations. State and federal agencies were notified, and clean-up response efforts were promptly executed, which significantly lessened the impact of the spill. The state agency determined that the clean-up recovery efforts were completed and issued to us a “No Further Action” notice. We do not anticipate additional fines or penalties by either the state or federal agencies.

(d) Litigation Contingencies

We are involved in various litigation and administrative proceedings arising in the normal course of business. In the opinion of management, any liabilities that may result from these claims would not individually or in the aggregate have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

At times, our subsidiaries acquire pipeline easements and other property rights by exercising rights of eminent domain and common carrier. As a result, from time to time, we (or our subsidiaries) are a party to a number of lawsuits under which a court will determine the value of pipeline easements or other property interests obtained by our subsidiaries by condemnation. Damage awards in these suits should reflect the value of the property interest acquired and the diminution in the value of the remaining property owned by the landowner. However, some landowners have alleged unique damage theories to inflate their damage claims or assert valuation methodologies that could result in damage awards in excess of the amounts anticipated. Although it is not possible to predict the ultimate outcomes of these matters, we do not expect that awards in these matters will have a material adverse impact on our consolidated results of operations, financial condition or cash flows.

We own and operate a high-pressure pipeline and underground natural gas and NGL storage reservoirs and associated facilities near Bayou Corne, Louisiana. In August 2012, a large sinkhole formed in the vicinity of this pipeline and underground storage reservoirs, resulting in damage to certain of our facilities. In order to recover our losses from responsible parties, we sued the operator of a failed cavern in the area, and its insurers, as well as other parties we alleged to have contributed to the formation of the sinkhole seeking recovery for these losses. We also filed a claim with our insurers, which our insurers denied. We disputed the denial and sued our insurers, and we subsequently reached settlements regarding the entirety of our claims in both lawsuits. In August 2014, we received a partial settlement with respect to our claims in the amount of $6.1 million. We secured additional settlement payments during 2017, which resulted in the recognition of “Gain on litigation settlement” of $26.0 million on the consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2017.