Legal, Environmental and Other Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2023

Legal, Environmental and Other Contingencies

Legal, Environmental and Other Contingencies

Note 10.  Legal, Environmental and Other Contingencies

Legal

The Company is regularly involved in litigation, both as a plaintiff and as a defendant, relating to its business and operations, including environmental, commercial, asbestos, employment and federal and/or state Equal Employment Opportunity Commission administrative actions. Future expenditures for environmental, employment, intellectual property and other legal matters cannot be determined with any degree of certainty.

Environmental

The Company has received permits from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources to close and provide post-closure environmental monitoring and care for certain areas of its Kokomo, Indiana and Mountain Home, North Carolina facilities, respectively.  

The Company is required to, among other things, monitor groundwater and to continue post-closure maintenance of the former disposal areas at each site. As a result, the Company is aware of elevated levels of certain contaminants in the groundwater, and additional testing and corrective action by the Company could be required.  The Company is unable to estimate the costs of any further corrective action at these sites, if required. Accordingly, the Company cannot assure that the costs of any future corrective action at these or any other current or former sites would not have a material effect on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.

As of September 30, 2023, the Company has accrued $355 for post-closure monitoring and maintenance activities, of which $266 is included in long-term obligations as it is not due within one year.  Accruals for these costs are calculated by estimating the cost to monitor and maintain each post-closure site and multiplying that amount by the number of years remaining in the post-closure monitoring.

Expected maturities of post-closure monitoring and maintenance activities (discounted) included in long-term obligations are as follows at September 30, 2023.  

Expected maturities of post-closure monitoring and maintenance activities (discounted)
Year Ending September 30,
2025	$	62
2026		60
2027		63
2028		65
2029 and thereafter		16
	$	266