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SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2011
Accounting Policies [Abstract] 
SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements of the Company reflect the application of certain new or updated significant accounting policies as described below:

Property, Plant and Equipment (excluding landfill assets)

Property, plant and equipment are stated at cost and include amounts capitalized under capital lease obligations. Expenditures for major renewals and improvements which extend the life of the asset are capitalized. Items of an ordinary repair or maintenance nature are charged directly to operating expense as incurred. During the construction and development period of an asset, the costs incurred, including applicable interest costs, are classified as construction-in-progress. Interest in the amount of $0.4 million and $0.3 million was capitalized to fixed assets during the nine months ended September 30, 2011, and 2010, respectively. Depreciation expense was $70.4 million and $53.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2011, and 2010, respectively.

The Company depreciates the cost of these assets, using the straight-line method as follows:

Asset Classification
 
Estimated Useful Life
Buildings and building improvements
 
 
Buildings
 
30—40 years
Land, leasehold and building improvements
 
5—40 years
Camp equipment
 
12—15 years
Vehicles
 
3—12 years
Equipment
 
 
Capitalized software and computer equipment
 
3 years
Solar equipment
 
20 years
Containers and railcars
 
15—20 years
All other equipment
 
3—10 years
Furniture and fixtures
 
5—8 years


Land, leasehold and building improvements have a weighted average life of 8.3 years.

Camp equipment consists of industrial lodging facilities that are utilized in the Company’s Industrial Services segment to provide lodging services to companies in the refinery and petrochemical industries.

Solar equipment consists of a solar array that is used to provide electric power for a continuously operating groundwater decontamination pump and treatment system at a closed and capped landfill located in New Jersey. The solar array was installed and became operable during the second quarter of 2011.

The Company recognizes an impairment in the carrying value of long-lived assets when the expected future undiscounted cash flows derived from the assets are less than their carrying value. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011, and 2010, the Company has not recorded impairment charges related to long-lived assets.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

From time to time, new accounting pronouncements are issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) and are adopted by the Company as of the specified effective dates. Unless otherwise discussed below, management believes that the impact of recently issued accounting pronouncements will not have a material impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations and cash flows, or do not apply to the Company’s operations.

In 2009, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2009-13, Revenue Recognition (Topic 605)—Multiple-Deliverable Revenue Arrangements, or ASU 2009-13 which provides additional guidance on the recognition of revenue from multiple element arrangements. ASU 2009-13 states that if vendor specific objective evidence or third party evidence for deliverables in an arrangement cannot be determined, companies are required to develop a best estimate of the selling price for separate deliverables and allocate arrangement consideration using the relative selling price method. This guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2010 and may be applied prospectively to new or materially modified arrangements after the effective date or retrospectively. The Company adopted ASU 2009-13 prospectively as of January 1, 2011 and although the adoption did not materially impact its financial condition, results of operations, or cash flow, this guidance may impact the Company’s determination of the separation of deliverables for future arrangements.

In June 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-5 Comprehensive Income (Topic 220) — Presentation of Comprehensive Income. The new guidance revises the manner in which entities present comprehensive income in their financial statements. ASU 2011-5 requires entities to report components of comprehensive income in either (1) a continuous statement of comprehensive income or (2) two separate but consecutive statements. The ASU does not change the items that must be reported in other comprehensive income. This guidance will require a change in the presentation of the financial statements and will require retrospective application. The Company will adopt this guidance as of January 2012 and has not determined which approach it will adopt.

In September 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-08 which amends the guidance on testing goodwill for impairment. Under the revised guidance, entities testing goodwill for impairment have the option of performing a qualitative assessment before calculating the fair value of the reporting unit (i.e., step 1 of the goodwill impairment test). If entities determine, on the basis of qualitative factors, that the fair value of the reporting unit is more likely than not less than the carrying amount, the two-step impairment test would be required. The ASU does not change how goodwill is calculated or assigned to reporting units, nor does it revise the requirement to test goodwill annually for impairment. In addition, the ASU does not amend the requirement to test goodwill for impairment between annual tests if events or circumstances warrant; however, it does revise the examples of events and circumstances that an entity should consider. The amendments are effective for annual and interim goodwill impairment tests performed for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2011. Early adoption is permitted. The Company will adopt this standard on January 1, 2012 and management does not expect this pronouncement will have a material impact on its financial statements.