American Airlines 2002 Annual Report Download - page 12

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10
Miami-Dade County (the County) is currently investigating and remediating various environmental
conditions at the Miami International Airport (MIA) and funding the remediation costs through landing fees and
various cost recovery methods. American and AMR Eagle have been named PRPs for the contamination at MIA.
During the second quarter of 2001, the County filed a lawsuit against 17 defendants, including American, in an
attempt to recover its past and future cleanup costs (Miami-Dade County, Florida v. Advance Cargo Services, Inc.,
et al. in the Florida Circuit Court). In addition to the 17 defendants named in the lawsuit, 243 other agencies and
companies were also named as PRPs and contributors to the contamination. American’s and AMR Eagle’s portion
of the cleanup costs cannot be reasonably estimated due to various factors, including the unknown extent of the
remedial actions that may be required, the proportion of the cost that will ultimately be recovered from the
responsible parties, and uncertainties regarding the environmental agencies that will ultimately supervise the
remedial activities and the nature of that supervision. The Company is vigorously defending the lawsuit.
In 1999, American was ordered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
(NYSDEC) to conduct remediation of environmental contamination located at Terminals 8 and 9 at New York’s
John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). In 2002, American began negotiating an order with NYSDEC for the
remediation of a JFK off-terminal hangar facility. American is seeking to recover a portion of the remediation costs
from previous users of the Terminals 8 and 9 premises.
Also in 1999, the Company entered a plea agreement with the U.S. Government with respect to a one
count indictment relating to the storage of hazardous materials. As part of the plea agreement, the Company was
placed on probation for three years and adopted a comprehensive compliance program. The probation period
ended in 2002.
In 1996, American and Executive, along with other tenants at the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in
San Juan, Puerto Rico were notified by the Port Authority that it considered them potentially responsible for
environmental contamination at the airport. Since 1996, no further action has been taken against American or
Executive.
American Eagle Airlines, Inc. has been notified of its potential liability under New York law at an inactive
hazardous waste site in Poughkeepsie, New York.
The Company does not expect these matters, individually or collectively, to have a material impact on its
financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.