Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

We are a party to various legal proceedings, lawsuits and administrative actions, which are of an ordinary or routine nature for a company of our size and in our sector. We believe that such proceedings, lawsuits, and administrative actions will not materially adversely affect our operations, financial condition, liquidity or competitive position. A more detailed discussion of certain of these proceedings, lawsuits, and administrative actions is set forth below.

Environmental Matters

We are subject to numerous federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations relating to the storage, handling, emission and disposal of materials and discharge of materials into the environment. We believe that our existing environmental control procedures are adequate and we have no current plans for substantial capital expenditures in this area. We have an environmental policy that confirms our commitment to a clean environment and compliance with environmental laws. We have an active environmental management program aimed at complying with existing environmental regulations and reducing the generation of pollutants in the manufacturing processes. We are also subject to laws concerning the cleanup of hazardous substances and wastes, such as the U.S. federal “Superfund” and similar state laws that impose liability for cleanup of certain waste sites and for related natural resource damages. We have been identified as a potentially responsible party with respect to several sites designated for cleanup under the “Superfund” or similar state laws.

Asbestos and Silica-Related Litigation

We have been named as a defendant in many asbestos-related and silica-related personal injury lawsuits. The plaintiffs in these suits allege exposure to asbestos or silica from multiple sources and typically we are one of approximately 25 or more named defendants. Our predecessors sometimes manufactured, distributed and/or sold products allegedly at issue in these pending asbestos and silica-related lawsuits (the “Products”). However, neither we nor our predecessors ever mined, manufactured, mixed, produced or distributed asbestos fiber or silica sand, the materials that allegedly caused the injury underlying the lawsuits. Moreover, the asbestos-containing components of the Products, if any, were enclosed within the subject Products.

Although we have never mined, manufactured, mixed, produced or distributed asbestos fiber or silica, many of the companies that did engage in such activities or produced such products are no longer in operation. This has led to law firms seeking potential alternative companies to name in lawsuits where there has been an asbestos or silica related injury. However, in our opinion, based on our experience to date, the substantial majority of the plaintiffs have not suffered an injury for which we bear responsibility.

We believe that the pending and future asbestos and silica-related lawsuits are not likely to, in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or liquidity, based on: our anticipated insurance and indemnification rights to address the risks of such matters; the limited potential asbestos exposure from the Products described above; our opinion, based on our experience to date, that the vast majority of plaintiffs are not impaired with a disease attributable to alleged exposure to asbestos or silica from or relating to the Products or for which we otherwise bear responsibility; various potential defenses available to us with respect to such matters; and our prior disposition of comparable matters. However, inherent uncertainties of litigation and future developments, including, without limitation, potential insolvencies of insurance companies or other defendants, an adverse determination in the Adams County Case (discussed below), or other inability to collect from our historical insurers or indemnitors, could cause a different outcome. While the outcome of legal proceedings is inherently uncertain, based on presently known facts, experience and circumstances, we believe that the amounts accrued on our Consolidated Balance Sheets are adequate and that the liabilities arising from the asbestos and silica-related personal injury lawsuits will not have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or liquidity. We have accrued liabilities and other liabilities on our consolidated balance sheet to include a total litigation reserve of $105.8 million and $105.6 million as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 respectively, with respect to potential liability arising from our asbestos-related litigation. Asbestos-related defense costs are excluded from the asbestos claims liability and are recorded separately as an operating expense as services are incurred. We currently expect to continue to incur significant asbestos-related defense costs. In the event of unexpected future developments, it is possible that the ultimate resolution of these matters may be material to the our consolidated financial position, results of operation or liquidity, and defense costs may be material. However, at this time, based on presently available information, we view this possibility as remote.

We have entered into a series of agreements with certain of our or our predecessors’ legacy insurers and certain potential indemnitors to secure insurance coverage and/or reimbursement for the costs associated with the asbestos and silica-related lawsuits filed against us. We have also pursued litigation against certain insurers or indemnitors where necessary. We have an insurance recovery receivable for probable asbestos related recoveries of approximately $103.0 million and $100.4 million as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 which was included in “Other assets” on the Consolidated Balance Sheets included elsewhere in this Form 10-K. During the year ended December 31, 2018, we received asbestos related insurance recoveries of $14.4 million, of which $6.2 million related to the recovery of indemnity payments, and was recorded as a reduction of the insurance recovery receivable in “Other assets” on the Consolidated Balance Sheets included elsewhere in this Form 10-K, and $8.2 million related to the reimbursement of previously expensed legal defense costs and was recorded as a reduction of “Selling and administrative expenses” in the Consolidated Statements of Operations included elsewhere in this Form 10-K.

The largest such recent action, Gardner Denver, Inc. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London, et al., was filed on July 9, 2010, in the Eighth Judicial Circuit, Adams County, Illinois, as case number 10-L-48 (the “Adams County Case”). In the lawsuit, we seek, among other things, to require certain excess insurer defendants to honor their insurance policy obligations to us, including payment in whole or in part of the costs associated with the asbestos-related lawsuits filed against us. In October 2011, we reached a settlement with one of the insurer defendants, which had issued both primary and excess policies, for approximately the amount of such defendant’s policies which were subject to the lawsuit. Since then, the case has been proceeding through the discovery and motions process with the remaining insurer defendants. On January 29, 2016, we prevailed on the first phase of that

discovery and motions process (“Phase I”). Specifically, the Court in the Adams County Case ruled that we have rights under all of the policies in the case, subject to their terms and conditions, even though the policies were sold to our former owners rather than to us. On June 9, 2016, the Court denied a motion by several of the insurers who sought permission to appeal the Phase I ruling now rather than waiting until the end of the whole case as is normally required. The case is now proceeding through the discovery and motions process regarding the remaining issues in dispute (“Phase II”).

A majority of our expected future recoveries of the costs associated with the asbestos-related lawsuits are the subject of the Adams County Case.

The amounts we recorded for asbestos-related liabilities and insurance recoveries are based on currently available information and assumptions that we believe are reasonable based on our evaluation of relevant factors with input from a third party actuarial expert. Our actual liabilities or insurance recoveries could be higher or lower than those recorded if actual results vary significantly from the assumptions. There are a number of key variables and assumptions including the number and type of new claims to be filed each year, the resolution or outcome of these claims, the average cost of resolution of each new claim, the amount of insurance available, allocation methodologies, the contractual terms with each insurer with whom we have reached settlements, the resolution of coverage issues with other excess insurance carriers with whom we have not yet achieved settlements and the solvency risk with respect to our insurance carriers. Other factors that may affect our future liability include uncertainties surrounding the litigation process from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and from case to case, legal rulings that may be made by state and federal courts and the passage of state or federal legislation. We make the necessary adjustments for our asbestos liability and corresponding insurance recoveries on an annual basis unless facts or circumstances warrant assessment as of an interim date.

Environmental Liabilities

We have been identified as a potentially responsible party (“PRP”) with respect to several sites designated for cleanup under U.S. federal “Superfund” or similar state laws that impose liability for cleanup of certain waste sites and for related natural resource damages. Persons potentially liable for such costs and damages generally include the site owner or operator and persons that disposed or arranged for the disposal of hazardous substances found at those sites. Although these laws impose joint and several liability on PRPs, in application, the PRPs typically allocate the investigation and cleanup costs based upon the volume of waste contributed by each PRP. Based on currently available information, we are only a small contributor to these waste sites, and we have, or are attempting to negotiate, de minimis settlements for our cleanup. The cleanup of the remaining sites is substantially complete and our future obligations entail a share of the sites’ ongoing operating and maintenance expense. We are also addressing four on-site cleanups for which we are the primary responsible party. Three of these cleanup sites are in the operation and maintenance stage and one is in the implementation stage.

We have an accrued liability on our consolidated balance sheet of $6.9 million and $7.5 million as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively, to the extent costs are known or can be reasonably estimated for our remaining financial obligations for the environmental matters discussed above and which does not anticipate that any of these matters will result in material additional costs beyond amounts accrued. Based upon consideration of currently available information, we do not anticipate any material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition, liquidity or competitive position as a result of compliance with federal, state, local or foreign environmental laws or regulations, or cleanup costs relating to these matters.