Environmental Protection Expenditures

Environmental protection expenditures include the cost of environmental monitoring, mitigation of environmental contamination, purchase of equipment to reduce emissions, and the disposal of hazardous waste. Reclamation activities at our closure sites contribute significantly to these costs each year. Environmental protection costs are included in general operating costs and, at many sites, are not tracked separately; therefore one global number is not available. However, at a minimum, environmental protection expenditures for 2011 totaled over $77 million.