NOTE 11. CLOSURE AND POST-CLOSURE OBLIGATIONS

Our accrued closure and post-closure liability represents the expected future costs, including corrective actions, associated with closure and post-closure of our operating and non-operating disposal facilities. We record the fair value of our closure and post-closure obligations as a liability in the period in which the regulatory obligation to retire a specific asset is triggered. For our individual landfill cells, the required closure and post-closure obligations under the terms of our permits and our intended operation of the landfill cell are triggered and recorded when the cell is placed into service and waste is initially disposed in the landfill cell. The fair value is based on the total estimated costs to close the landfill cell and perform post-closure activities once the landfill cell has reached capacity and is no longer accepting waste. We perform periodic reviews of both non-operating and operating facilities and revise accruals for estimated closure and post-closure, remediation or other costs as necessary. Recorded liabilities are based on our best estimates of current costs and are updated periodically to include the effects of existing technology, presently enacted laws and regulations, inflation and other economic factors.

Changes to closure and post-closure obligations consisted of the following:

	Three Months Ended			Nine Months Ended
$s in thousands	September 30, 2016			September 30, 2016

Closure and post-closure obligations, beginning of period	$	72,435		$	71,154
Accretion expense	1,031			3,081
Payments	(455		)	(1,304		)
Adjustments	1,272			1,272
Foreign currency translation	(17		)	63

Closure and post-closure obligations, end of period	74,266			74,266
Less current portion	(2,211		)	(2,211		)

Long-term portion	$	72,055		$	72,055

Adjustments to the closure and post-closure obligations represent changes in the expected timing or amount of cash expenditures based upon actual and estimated cash expenditures. Adjustments for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 are attributable to an increase in post-closure obligations for our non-operating facilities due to changes in estimated post-closure costs.