Contingencies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2011

Contingencies

Note 2 — Contingencies

The Company is involved from time to time in disputes and other litigation in the ordinary course of business and may encounter other contingencies, which may include environmental and other matters.  The Company presently believes that none of these matters, individually or in the aggregate, would be likely to have a material adverse impact on its financial position, results of operations or liquidity, as set forth in these financial statements.

In December 2008, the Company sold property it owned in Bridgeport, Connecticut to B&E Juices, Inc. for $2.5 million, of which $2.0 million is secured by a mortgage on the property.  The property consists of approximately four acres of land and 48,000 sq. feet of warehouse space.  The property was the site of the Company’s original scissor factory which opened in 1887 and was closed in 1996.

Under the terms of the sale agreement, and as required by the Connecticut Transfer Act, the Company is required to remediate any environmental contamination on the property. During 2008, the Company hired an independent environmental consulting firm to conduct environmental studies in order to identify the extent of the environmental contamination on the property and to develop a remediation plan. As a result of those studies and the estimates prepared by the independent environmental consulting firm, the Company recorded an undiscounted liability of approximately $1.8 million related to the remediation of the property. This accrual includes the costs of required investigation, remedial activities, and post-remediation operating and maintenance.

Remediation work on the project began in the third quarter of 2009 and a major portion of the work has been completed. At June 30, 2011, the Company had approximately $301,000 remaining in its accrual for environmental remediation, of which approximately $150,000 was classified as a current liability at that date.  It is estimated that the remediation project will be completed within five years from the date of the sale.

In addition to the remediation work, the Company, with the assistance of its independent environmental consulting firm, must continue to monitor contaminant levels on the property to ensure they comply with set governmental standards. The Company expects that the monitoring period could last a minimum of three years from the completion of the remediation work.

The change in the accrual for environmental remediation for the six months ended June 30, 2011 follows (in thousands):

Balance at December 31, 2010	Payments	Balance at June 30, 2011
$  343	$   (42)	$   301

Also, as part of the sale, the Company provided the buyer with a mortgage loan of $2.0 million at six percent interest. The mortgage is payable in monthly installments of principal and interest with the outstanding balance due in full, one year after remediation  and monitoring on the property have been completed. It is estimated that the remediation project will be completed within five years from the date of the sale.