NOTE 15—Commitments and Contingencies:

In the ordinary course of business, we have commitments in connection with various activities, the most significant of which are as follows:

Environmental

We had the following activity in our recorded environmental liabilities for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009 (in thousands):


	Year Ended December 31,
	2011			2010			2009
Balance, beginning of year	$	13,806		$	15,567		$	18,970
Expenditures		(1,081	)		(1,128	)		(1,414	)
Changes in estimates recorded to earnings and other		(270	)		419			(2,202	)
Foreign currency translation		(96	)		(1,052	)		213

Balance, end of year		12,359			13,806			15,567
Less amounts reported in Accrued expenses		1,433			1,661			5,775

Amounts reported in Other noncurrent liabilities	$	10,926		$	12,145		$	9,792

The amounts recorded represent our future remediation and other anticipated environmental liabilities. Approximately 70% of our recorded liability is related to the closure and post-closure activities at a former landfill associated with our Bergheim, Germany site, which was recorded at the time of our acquisition of this site in 2001. This closure project has been approved under the authority of the governmental permit for this site and is scheduled for completion in 2017, with post-closure monitoring to occur for 30 years thereafter. The remainder of our recorded liability is associated with sites that are being evaluated under governmental authority but for which final remediation plans have not yet been approved. These liabilities typically arise during the normal course of our operational and environmental management activities or at the time of acquisition of the site, and are based on internal analysis as well as input from outside consultants. As evaluations proceed at each relevant site, changes in risk assessment practices, remediation techniques and regulatory requirements can occur, therefore such liability estimates may be adjusted accordingly. The timing and duration of remediation activities at these sites will be determined when evaluations are completed. Although it is difficult to quantify the potential magnitude of these remediation liabilities, management estimates (based on the latest available information) that there is a reasonable possibility that future environmental remediation costs associated with our past operations, in excess of amounts already recorded, could be up to approximately $16.5 million before income taxes.

We believe that any sum we may be required to pay in connection with environmental remediation matters in excess of the amounts recorded should occur over a period of time and should not have a material adverse effect upon our results of operations, financial condition or cash flows on a consolidated annual basis although any such sum could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations, financial condition or cash flows in a particular quarterly reporting period.

Rental Expense

Our rental expenses include a capital lease related to machinery and equipment at JBC and a number of operating lease agreements, primarily for office space, transportation equipment and storage facilities. The following schedule details the future non-cancelable minimum lease payments for the next five years and thereafter (in thousands):


	Minimum Capital Lease Payments			Minimum Operating Lease Payments
2012	$	2,151		$	8,337
2013		—		$	5,140
2014		—		$	3,480
2015		—		$	2,657
2016		—		$	2,110
Thereafter		—		$	10,091

Total minimum obligations		2,151
Interest		(145	)

Present value of net minimum obligations		2,006
Current portion		2,006

Long-term obligations	$	—

Rental expense was approximately $30.9 million, $29.0 million, and $27.3 million for 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively. Rental expense is shown net of rental income which was minimal during 2011, 2010 and 2009.

Litigation

On July 3, 2006, we received a Notice of Violation (the 2006 NOV) from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 4, or EPA, regarding the implementation of the Pharmaceutical Maximum Achievable Control Technology standards at our plant in Orangeburg, South Carolina. The alleged violations include (i) the applicability of the specific regulations to certain intermediates manufactured at the plant, (ii) failure to comply with certain reporting requirements, (iii) improper evaluation and testing to properly implement the regulations and (iv) the sufficiency of the leak detection and repair program at the plant. In the second quarter of 2011, the Company was served with a complaint by the EPA in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, based on the alleged violations set out in the 2006 NOV seeking civil penalties and injunctive relief. The complaint was subsequently amended to add the State of South Carolina as a plaintiff. We intend to vigorously defend this action. Any settlement or finding adverse to us could result in the payment by us of fines, penalties, capital expenditures, or some combination thereof. At this time, it is not possible to predict with any certainty the outcome of this litigation or the financial impact which may result therefrom. However, we do not expect any financial impact to have a material adverse effect on the Company's results of operations, financial condition or cash flows.

In addition, we are involved from time to time in legal proceedings of types regarded as common in our business, including administrative or judicial proceedings seeking remediation under environmental laws, such as Superfund, products liability, breach of contract liability and premises liability litigation. Where appropriate, we may establish financial reserves as estimated by our general counsel for such proceedings. We also maintain insurance to mitigate certain of such risks. Costs for legal services are generally expensed as incurred.

Other

The following table summarizes our letters of credit and guarantee agreements (in thousands):


	2012		2013		2014		2015		2016		Thereafter
Letters of credit and guarantees	$	23,328	$	7,374	$	43	$	95	$	4	$	5,076

The Company has standby letters of credit and guarantees with various financial institutions. At December 31, 2011, the Company had $35.9 million of outstanding letters of credit and guarantees. The outstanding letters of credit are primarily related to performance bonds, environmental guarantees and insurance claim payment guarantees with expiration dates ranging from 2012 to 2020.

The majority of the Company's guarantees relates to custom and port authorities that have expiration dates ranging from one year to three years. The guarantees arose during the ordinary course of business. We do not have recorded reserves for the letters of credit and guarantees as of December 31, 2011. We are unable to estimate the maximum amount of the potential future liability under guarantees and letters of credit. However, we accrue for any potential loss for which we believe a future payment is probable and a range of loss can be reasonably estimated. We believe our liability under such obligations is immaterial.

In connection with the remediation activities at our Bergheim, Germany site as required by the German environmental authorities, we have pledged certain of our land and housing facilities at this site with a recorded value of $5.8 million.

We had asset retirement obligations of $14.9 million and $14.2 million at December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively, associated with certain property and equipment. During 2011, we recorded a minimal amount of new asset retirement obligations, and the increase from December 31, 2010 is primarily related to accretion expense recorded during 2011. We have not recognized conditional asset retirement obligations for which a fair value cannot be reasonably estimated in our consolidated financial statements. It is the opinion of our management that the possibility is remote that such conditional asset retirement obligations, when estimable, will have a material adverse impact on our consolidated financial statements based on current costs.

We currently, and are from time to time, subject to sales and use tax audits in various taxing jurisdictions in the United States and to customs audits globally. We do not expect the financial impact of any of these audits to have a material adverse effect on the Company's results of operations, financial condition or cash flows.