Black & Decker CYCLONE BLC12600BUC Manuel d'utilisateur télécharger pdf (Page 24)

the Corporation’s products and allegations of patent and trademark infringement. The Corporation also is involved in litigation and

administrative proceedings involving employment matters, commercial disputes, and income tax matters. Some of these lawsuits

include claims for punitive as well as compensatory damages.

The Corporation, using current product sales data and historical trends, actuarially calculates the estimate of its exposure for product

liability. The Corporation is insured for product liability claims for amounts in excess of established deductibles and accrues for the

estimated liability as described above up to the limits of the deductibles. All other claims and lawsuits are handled on a case-by-case

basis. The Corporation’s estimate of costs associated with product liability claims, environmental matters, and other legal proceedings

is accrued if, in management’s judgment, the likelihood of a loss is probable and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated.

These accrued liabilities are not discounted.

As previously noted under Item 1(c) of Part I of this report, the Corporation also is party to litigation and administrative proceedings

with respect to claims involving the discharge of hazardous substances into the environment. Some of these assert claims for damages

and liability for remedial investigations and clean-up costs with respect to sites that have never been owned or operated by the

Corporation but at which the Corporation has been identified as a PRP. Others involve current and former manufacturing facilities.

The EPA and the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board have each initiated administrative proceedings against the

Corporation and certain of the Corporation’s current or former affiliates alleging that the Corporation and numerous other defendants

are responsible to investigate and remediate alleged groundwater contamination in and adjacent to a 160-acre property located in

Rialto, California. The United States of America, the cities of Colton and Rialto, and certain other PRPs have also initiated lawsuits

(and/or asserted cross and counter-claims against the Corporation and certain of the Corporation’s former or current affiliates) that are

currently pending in the United States District Court for the Central District of California (collectively, the “Litigation”). In the

Litigation, the various parties allege that the Corporation is liable under CERCLA, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and

various state laws for the discharge or release of hazardous substances into the environment and the contamination caused by those

alleged releases. The Corporation, in turn, through certain of the aforementioned affiliates, has also initiated a lawsuit in the United

States District Court for the Central District of California alleging that various other PRPs are liable for the alleged contamination at

issue. The City of Colton also has a companion case in California State court, which is currently stayed for all purposes. Certain

defendants in that case have cross-claims against other defendants and have asserted claims against the State of California. The

administrative proceedings and the lawsuits generally allege that West Coast Loading Corporation (WCLC), a defunct company that

operated in Rialto between 1952 and 1957, and an as yet undefined number of other defendants are responsible for the release of

perchlorate and solvents into the groundwater basin, and that the Corporation and certain of the Corporation’s current or former

affiliates are liable as a “successor” of WCLC. The Corporation believes that neither the facts nor the law support an allegation that

the Corporation is responsible for the contamination and is vigorously contesting these claims.

The EPA has provided an affiliate of the Corporation a “Notice of Potential Liability” related to environmental contamination found at

the Centredale Manor Restoration Project Superfund site, located in North Providence, Rhode Island. The EPA has discovered dioxin,

polychlorinated biphenyls, and pesticide contamination at this site. The EPA alleged that an affiliate of the Corporation is liable for

site cleanup costs under CERCLA as a successor to the liability of Metro-Atlantic, Inc., a former operator at the site, and demanded

reimbursement of the EPA’s costs related to this site. The EPA, which considers the Corporation to be the primary potentially

responsible party (PRP) at the site, is expected to release a draft Feasibility Study Report, which will identify and evaluate remedial

alternatives for the site, in 2011. At December 31, 2009, the estimated remediation costs related to this site (including the EPA’s past

costs as well as costs of additional investigation, remediation, and related costs, less escrowed funds contributed by PRPs who have

reached settlement agreements with the EPA), which the Corporation considers to be probable and can be reasonably estimable, range

from approximately $50.5 million to approximately $100 million, with no amount within that range representing a more likely

outcome. At December 31, 2009, the Corporation maintains a reserve for this environmental remediation matter of $50.5 million,

reflecting the probability that the Corporation will be identified as the principal financially viable PRP upon issuance of the EPA draft

Feasibility Study Report in 2010. The Corporation has not yet determined the extent to which it will contest the EPA’s claims with

respect to this site. Further, to the extent that the Corporation agrees to perform or finance remedial activities at this site, it will seek

participation or contribution from additional potentially responsible parties and insurance carriers. As the specific nature of the

environmental remediation activities that may be mandated by the EPA at this site have not yet been determined, the ultimate remedial

costs associated with the site may vary from the amount accrued by the Corporation at December 31, 2009.

Source: BLACK & DECKER CORP, 10-K, February 19, 2010 Powered by Morningstar

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