Note 1 4 . Com mitments and Contingencies (a) Pursuant to an arbitration proceeding with the general construction contractor of the Stendal mill regarding certain warranty claims, the Company acted upon a bank guarantee for defect liability on civil works that was about to expire as provided in t he engineering, procurement, and construction contract. On January 28, 2011, the Company received approximately ¬ 10.0 million ( $13,606 ) (the "Guarantee Amount"), which was intended to compensate the Company for remediation work that was required at the Stendal mill. As civil works remediation steps were agreed to with the general construction contractor a n agreed to portion of the payable was recorded in operating costs to offset the remediation expenditures. In July 2014, the Company reached a final settlemen t with the general construction contractor, and as a result repaid the remaining portion, approximately ¬0.4 million ( $475 ) , of the ¬10.0 million originally received. (b) The Company was involved in a property transfer tax dispute with respect to the Celgar mill. Celgar had previously paid the property transfer tax assessment. In July 2014, the Company lost i ts final appeal and accordingly reclassified C$3.9 million ($3,446) from prepaid expenses and other to property, plant and equipment in the Consolidated Balance Sheet. The Company will amortize this amount over the remaining useful life of the related assets. The Company is involved in legal actions and claims arising in the ordinary course of business. While the outcome of any legal actions and claims cannot be predicted with certainty, it is the opinion of management that the outcome of any such claim which is pending or threatened, either individually or on a combined basis, will not have a material adverse effect on the consolidated financial condition, results of operations or liquidity of the Company. (c) In 2012, as a result of a regular tax field audit for the Stendal mill, German public authorities commenced a preliminary investigation into pas