Note 9 – Commitments and Contingencies

In the ordinary course of its business operations, the Company enters into arrangements that obligate it to make future payments under contracts such as lease agreements. Additionally, the Company is involved, from time to time, in commercial litigation, employment disputes, administrative proceedings, business disputes and other legal proceedings. The Company has established accruals for certain proceedings based on an assessment of probability of loss. The Company believes that any potential loss in excess of the amounts accrued, other than the environmental remediation matters discussed separately below, would not have a material effect on the business or its consolidated financial statements.

Environmental Remediation

In 1992, the Company entered into a consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (the “EPA”) in which the Company committed to remediate environmental contamination of the groundwater that was discovered from 1982 through 1990 at and adjacent to its Lindsay, Nebraska facility (the “site”). The site was added to the EPA’s list of priority superfund sites in 1989. Between 1993 and 1995, remediation plans for the site were approved by the EPA and fully implemented by the Company. Since 1998, the primary remaining contamination at the site has been the presence of volatile organic compounds in the soil and groundwater. To date, the remediation process has consisted primarily of drilling wells into the aquifer and pumping water to the surface to allow these contaminants to be removed by aeration.

In fiscal 2012, the Company undertook an investigation to assess further potential site remediation and containment actions. In connection with the receipt of preliminary results of this investigation and other evaluations, the Company estimated that it would incur $7.2 million in remediation of source area contamination and operating costs and accrued that undiscounted amount. In addition to this source area, the Company determined that volatile organic compounds also existed under one of the manufacturing buildings on the site. Due to the location, the Company had not yet determined the extent of these compounds or the extent to which they were contributing to groundwater contamination. Based on the uncertainty of the remediation actions that might be required with respect to this affected area, the Company believed that meaningful estimates of costs or range of costs could not be made and accordingly were not accrued.

In December 2014, the EPA requested that the Company prepare a feasibility study related to the site, including the area covered by the building, which resulted in a revision to the Company’s remediation timeline. In the first quarter of fiscal 2015, the Company accrued $1.5 million of incremental operating costs to reflect its updated timeline.

The Company began soil and groundwater testing in preparation for developing this feasibility study during the first quarter of fiscal 2016. During the second quarter of fiscal 2016, the Company completed its testing which clarified the extent of contamination, including the identification of a source of contamination near the manufacturing building that was not part of the area for which reserves were previously established. The Company, with the assistance of third-party environmental experts, is developing and evaluating remediation alternatives, a proposed remediation plan and estimated costs. Based on preliminary estimates of future remediation and operating costs, the Company accrued an additional $13.0 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2016 and included the related expenses in general and administrative expenses in the condensed consolidated statement of operations.

The current estimated aggregate accrued cost of $19.6 million is based on consideration of several remediation options that would use different technologies, each of which the Company believes could be successful in meeting the long-term regulatory requirements of the site. However, the remediation options are still being evaluated, cost estimates are preliminary, and no plan has been approved by the EPA or the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (the “NDEQ”). The Company participated in a preliminary meeting with the EPA and the NDEQ during the third quarter of fiscal 2016 to review remediation alternatives and proposed plans for the site. Based on guidance from third-party environmental experts and the preliminary discussions held in the third quarter of fiscal 2016, the Company anticipates that a definitive plan may not be agreed to until fiscal 2017 or later.

The Company accrues the anticipated cost of investigation and remediation when the obligation is probable and can be reasonably estimated. While the Company believes the current accrual is a good faith estimate of the long-term cost of remediation at this site based on preliminary analysis available at this time, the estimate of costs and their timing could change as a result of a number of factors, including (1) EPA and NDEQ input on the proposed remediation plan and any changes which they may subsequently require, (2) refinement of cost estimates and length of time required to complete remediation and post-remediation operations and maintenance, (3) effectiveness of the technology chosen in remediation of the site as well as changes in technology that may be available in the future, and (4) unforeseen circumstances existing at the site. As a result of these factors, it is not possible to provide a reasonable estimate of the amount of costs that may exceed amounts accrued at this time. While any revisions could be material to the operating results of any fiscal quarter or fiscal year, the Company does not expect such additional expenses would have a material adverse effect on its liquidity or financial condition.

The following table summarizes the undiscounted environmental remediation liability classifications included in the balance sheet as of May 31, 2016, May 31, 2015 and August 31, 2015:



Environmental Remediation Liabilities
($ in thousands)	May 31,		May 31,		August 31,
Balance Sheet Classification	2016		2015		2015

Other current liabilities	$	980	$	1,119	$	1,431
Other noncurrent liabilities		18,571		6,475		6,100
Total environmental remediation liabilities	$	19,551	$	7,594	$	7,531