ML20004B240
| ML20004B240 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 03/02/1981 |
| From: | Berger D BERGER, D., GENERAL PUBLIC UTILITIES CORP., PEPPER, HAMILTON & SHEETZ |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20004B232 | List: |
| References | |
| 79-0432, 79-432, NUDOCS 8105270434 | |
| Download: ML20004B240 (27) | |
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'o3ggyp SA lb MAR 2 1981 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA CLAIM DEPARTMENT IN RE:
THREE MILE ISLAND CIVIL NO. 79-0432 LITIGATION STIPULATION AND AGREEMENT OF SETTLEMENT Plaintiffs are individuals who lived, worked, owned property or operated a business, and businesses which owned property or operated a place of business, within twenty-five miles of the Three Mile Island Unit 2 nuclear power plant ("TMI") on or after March 28, 1979, suing indi-vidually and on behalf of classes of all other individuals and businesses similarly s,ituated and affected by the acci-dent which occurred at TMI on March 28, 1979.
The defendants l
in the action are General Public Utilities Corp., Metropolitan 1
l Edison Company, Jersey Central Power & Light Co.,
Pennsylvania Electric Co., Babcock & Wilcox Company, J.
Ray McDermott &
Co.,
Icc., and Catalytic, Inc.
Plaintiffs have alleged that they have suffered economic harm as a result of the accident at TMI on March' '
28, 1979 and thereafter, and have claimed to have a right to receive medical detection / protection services as a result of the accident at TMI.
l 8195270434
Pursuant to Court-approved stipulations, class action certification has been accorded certain categories of claimants and claims.
This litigation is proceeding in the context of the Price-Anderson Act amendments to the Atomic Energy Act, 42 U.S.C.
52001, et seq.
The named defendants are among the
" person [s] indemnified" within the meaning of 42 U.S.C.
52014(t).
The first layer of " financial protection," as defined in the Price-Anderson Act, 42 U.S.C.
52014(k), is provided by two pools of insurers known as the American Nuclear Insurers and Mutual Atomic Energy Liability Under-writers (hereinafter the " Pools").
The funding of the settlement herein contemplated is being provided by the Pools which, with the consent of the named defendants, have retained defendants' counsel herein.
Since these cases were commenced shortly after March 28, 1979, plaintiffs' counsel have undertaken extensive formal and informal investigations into the underlying facts and into various fields of knowledge.
Such investigations have involved, inter alia, review of hearings and reports conducted and published by federal and state governmental' agencies and studies by members of the academic and scientific community relating te the accident at TMI and the effects of radiation on human health.
Plaintiffs have also consulted ?
qualified experts in economics and regional science to study the economic impact of the TMI Accident; and experts in health care systems, medical detection programs, radiation epidemiology, health physics, radiation monitoring, and other related disciplines to assess the health ramifications of the TMI Accident.
Plaintiffs' counsel have also carefully analyzed the legal basis for and risks involved in the various claims for relief.
Defendants' counsel have reviewed the numerous studies and reporcs referred to above, have commissioned further studies and have consulted with experts in the fields noted above.
On the basis of all of the foregoing, and upon analyzing the risks and expenses of this complex litigation and upon considering the delay inherent in its final resolution, plaintiffs' counsel have concluded that the settlement provided for herein is in the best interest of Classes I, II and III.
Defendants and the Pools, while denying liability, causation (in lav and in fact) and injury as claimed, and
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the Pools having in some instances denied coverage for l
certain claims or reserved their right to dispute coverage, have nevertheless agreed to enter into a settlement in order to avoid the further expense, celay and risk of litigation i
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and finally to put to rest certain claims which have been or which might have been asserted in or as a consequence of this litigation.
Certain of the named plaintiffs in this action have joined individual claims for alleged personal injuries with the class claims asserted.
In order to facilitate s ett).ement, all such plaintiffs will contemporaneously with the execution of this agreement dismiss without prejudice all non-class claims / with the right if they so elect to file an individual action or actions relating to such claims.
Defendants consent to such procedure and will cooperate in the filing of any necessary documents to accomplish it, and will waive any defense based upon the statute of limitations for a period of ninety (90) days, if such suit or suits is or are instituted within ninety (90) days from the date of this Agreement.
l IT IS, THEREFORE, STIPULATED AND AGREED by and among the parties in this action and the Pools that this action shc11 be settled and compromised, upon approval of the Court after notice and a hearing, on and subject to the terms and conditions set forth below.
l 1.
As used herein, the following terms shall have the meaning set forth below:
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S (a)
" Class I" means all of those entities (including but not limited to proprietorships, unincorporated associations, partnerships, institutions, business and pro-fessional corporations, not-for-profit corporations, trusts and their successors in title or interest) having property, one or more places of business, or locations, within a twenty-five mile radius of TMI which may have suffered economic harm allegedly related to the events occurring at TMI on March 28, 1979, and continuing thereafter, but exclud-ing defendants and any of their corporate parents, subsidiaries, affiliates or other entities wholly or partially under defendants' control.
The term " entities" as used above does not include any governmental boay, such as municipalities, counties, townships, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or any other governmental body.
(b)
" Class II" means all of those natural persons residing, located, having business, property, or occupational interests within a twenty-five mile radius of TMI (at any time on or after March 2'8, 1979) who may have suffered economic harm allegedly related to the events occurring at TMI on March 28, 1979, and continuing thereatter, but excluding officers, directors, and managing agents of l
l defendants and of any of their corporate parents, subsidi-aries, affiliates or other entities wholly or partially under defendants' control..-
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(c)
" Class III" means every natural person who lived or worked within a twenty-five mile radius of TMI who was present in that area during any of the period March 28, 1979 through May 9, 1979, and their first generation progeny (but excluding officers, directors or managing agents of any of the defendants) for any claim for the cost of securing medical detection services alleged to be appro-priate as a consequence of the TMI Accident.
(d)
"TMI Accident" means the series of events leading up to and the accident which occurred at the Three Mile Island nuclear facility commencing on or about March 28, 1979, and events continuing thereafter up to the date of execution of this Agreement.
(e)
"TMI Defendants" means the defendants in Civil Action No.79-432, in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, any of their present or former directors, officers, employees, principals, agents, i
attorneys, subsidiaries, affiliates, predecessors or successors, and any other " person indemnified" as that phrase is defined in 42 U.S.C.
52014(t), and the Dools.
(f)
"The Court" means the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pc nnsylvania.
(g)
" Class Claim" means a claim of the sort certified by the Court for class action treatment, asse'rted l
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4 or which could have been asserted by or on behilf of a Class Member against a TMI Defendant.
(h)
" Class Member" means any entity or individual within any of the classes certified by the Court in this action, who or which does not effectively exclude himself, herself or itself from the class action.
(i)
" Claimant" means any Class Member of Class I or Class II who submits a claim form as contemplated by paragraph 12 below.
(j)
" Agreement" means this " Stipulation And' Agreement of Settlement."
(k)
" Settlement" means the compromise and disposition of the Class claims contemplated by this Agreement.
The Settlement is an integral settlement and is not divisible into its component parts.
(1)
" Settled Claims" means all Class claims.
(m)
" Effective Date of this' Agreement" means:
the fifth business day after the time for any appeal from the final orders described in paragraghs 13 and 14 herein has expired; cr if there is an appeal and the Settle-ment conte = plated herein is sustained, the fifth business day after such appeal is concluded; or the fifth business day after the time for the Pools to make the election described in paragraph 19 herein has expired, whichever is later.
2.
In settlement of all Settled Claims, the sum -
of TWENTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLARS (S25,000,000.00) plus interest as hereinafter set forth shall be paid on behalf of defen-dants.
Of that amount the sum of TWEITIY MILLION DOLLARS (S20,000,000.00) shall be allocated to the settlement of all i
Class claims of Classes I and II, and the sum of FIVE MILLION DOLLARS ($5,000,000.00) shall be allocated to the settlement of all Class Claims of Class III.
3.
The TWENTY MILLION DOLLARS ($20,000,000.00) allocated to the settlement of all Class claims of classes I and II together with all interest or other earnings thereon thereafter referred to as the " Economic Loss Fund") shall be held and managed in accordance with the terms of paragraphs 5-8 below, and disbursed in accordance with paragragh 12 below.
The FIVE MILLION DOLLARS ($5,000,000.00) allocated to the settlement of all Class Claims of Class III together with all interest or other earnings thereon (hereafter referred to as the "Public Health Fund") will be held and managed in accordance with the terms of paragraphs 5-8 below and disbursed in accordance witn paragraphs 10 and 11 below l
and for no other purpose.
No individual Class Member shall have any claim against the Public Health Fund, provided, that this sentence is not intended to deprive any Class Member of such indirect benefit as he or she may enjoy as a result of expenditures in accordance with paragraphs 10 and 11 below.
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4.
The payment required by paragraph 2 above shall be made within thirty (30) days from the date of execution of this Agreement, together with an additional sum as interest thereon of $130,000 plus further interest at the prime lending rate of Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York commencing on February 17, 1981 and continuing to, but not including, the date of payment.
5.
The Public Health Fund and the Economic Loss Fund (which include all interest or other earnings thereon)
(hereafter collectively referred to as the " Settlement Fund") shall be held in escrow under the supervision cf two persons.
One such person shall be appointed by the Pools and the other shall be appointed by liaison countel for plaintiffs.
Eacn of said persons shall act in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, and they shall hereafter be referred to as Escrow Agents.
An Escrow Agent may resign l
by written notice to, or be removed by, the party er parties i
j who or whicn appointed him.
Until such time as the Escrow l
Agent appointed by the Pools r2 signs in accordance with paragraph 6 hereof, any succescor Escrow Agent shall be chosen solely by the party who had originally appointed the Escrow Agent being replaced.
From time to time the Escrow Agents, with Court approval, will be reimbursed out of the Settlement Fund for incidental costs and expenses incurred
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in the administration and distribution of the Settlement Fund.
The Escrow Agent appointed by the Pools shall serve without compensation.
Su!bsequent to the resignation of the Escrow Agent appointed by the Pools, the Escrow Agent appointed by the plaintiffs may petition the court as may be appropriate for ccmpensation to be disbursed from the Settlement Fund.
The Escrow Agents shall have no duties except those which are expressly set forth herein.
The Escrow Agents may confer with counsel with respect to any question relating to their duties or responsibilities hereunder and they shall not be liabla for any act done or omitted by them in good faith on advice of such counsel, it being understood that their liability hereunder shall be limite,d solely to gross negligence or willful misconduct on their part.
Any successor Escrow Agent shall be bound by all the provisions of this Agreement upon his or her acceptance thereof and shall have all the power and authority as if originally named as Escrow Agent herein.
The Escrow Agents shall appoint a custodian of the cash and investments comprising the settlement Fund under an agreement in form satisfactory to the Court, such custodian to be Philadelphia National Bank.
6.
Unless this Agreement shall ha"e sooner terminated in accordance with its terms, the Escrow Agent appointed by the Pools shall be automatically deemed to have e
resigned his position at the clo a of business on the Effec-tive Date of this Agreement, and thereupon the Escrow Agent appointed by liaison counsel for plaintiffs shall continue to serve and shall be the sole Escrow Agent until his or her resignation or replacement.
7.
Subsequent to the resignation of the Escrow Agent appointed by the Pools in accordance with the terms of paragraph 6 hereof, any successor Escrow Agent shall be appointed solely by liaison counsel for plaintiffs, and his or her service shall commence as soon as written notice of the appointment is filed with the Court.
8.
The Settlement Fund shall be held in escrow subject to the following conditions, in addition to any other conditions contained in this Agreement:
i' (a)
The Escrow Agents shall act by unanimous action in accordance with the terms of Ulis Agreement.
In l
the event the Escrow Agents are unable to agree on any matter relating to the investment or administration of tSe Settlement Fund, any Escrow Agent may, upon notice, move tne l
Court for an order as to the proper handling of the Settle-ment Fund in accordance with the terns of this Agreement.
(b)
The Escrow Agents shall invest the Settlement Fund in United Stares Treasury bonds, bills or notes, or similar United States Government securities or !
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agreements to repurchase same, pending distribution of the Settlement Fund.
(c)
The Escrow Agents shall be without power to authorize the disbursement cf the Settlement Fund, or any part thereof, except upon Order of the court.
(d)
The parties agree that the settlement Fund may be used, upon Court approval, for the payment of the cost of notice to the classes heretofore certified in this action, preparation for such notice and for claim form mailing and procescing in connection therewith (including costs incurred by or on behalf of the parties prior to the date hereof), and.any custodial fees incurred by the Escrow Agents.
9.
All charges against the Settlement Fund (except for disbursements in accordance with paragraph 11 below), such as charges for administrative, data processing and notice costs, custodial fees and legal fees, shall be applied against the Economic Loss Fund portion of the Settlar:ent Fund, except as otherwise ordered by the Court.
10.
The Public Health Fund shall be used for any of the following purposes:
(a) improving the monitoring of radiation releases from TMI through (i) funding the purchase of equipmec.t by. or /
a (ii) funding existing programs presently being engaged in by, or (iii) funding new programs by the Common-wealth of Pennsylvania, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or the Department of Energy, or any successors thereto or other gcVernment entity engaging or which will engage in radiation release monitoring at TMI.
(b) funding of studies or analyses relating to the possible health related effects (and related studies and analyses) resulting from the TMI Accident and related events and approved, now or hereafter, by the TMI Advisory
~ Board on Health Research Studies established by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (" Advisory Panel") or any other state or federal governmental body or accredited educational institution of higher learning; provided that, in order to satisfy any requirement of approval imposed by this subparagraph, plaintiffs ' liaison counsel may propose l
l studies to any entity referred to in' this mtbparagraph on their own initiative and without reference to whether such entity is presently engaged in studies of health related effects of the TMI Accident; (c) funding of public education programs l
involving the general public residing or working within l
twenty-five miles of TMI or the medical community within or serving that region on the subjects of (i) cancer and early detection of cancer generally and the health effect of radiation; (ii) procedures to be followed in the event of the necessity to evacuate in the future the area within twenty-five miles of TMI or any part thereof; or (iii) public education of any other nature to reduce stress; (d) funding the preparation of or the means to implement or assist in implementing a comprehensive plan of evacuation or emergency assistance of any population within twenty-five miles of the TMI facility, if necessary; and (e) funding general research into the effects of low level radiation on human health and related studies
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and analyses.
11.
Disbursements in compliance with paragraph 10 shall be made in the following manner:
(a)
Disbursements shall be made only upon order of the Court.
As an initial aid to the Court, plain-tiffs' liaison counsel shall submit to the Court a general l
plan for disbursements from the Fund.
Thereafter, and in accordance with such procedures as are established by the Court, separate petitions shall be filed with the Court by t
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plaintiffs' liaison counsel for each funding proposal.
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(b)
Any petition for approval of a funding proposal under subparagraphs 1 Cia), 10(c), or 10(d) shall contain sufficient informa~ tion to enable the Court to deter-mine whether the proposal will advance the purpose of the applicable subparagraph, and shall reflect the opinion of the government entity or other organization involved.
Any petition for approval of a funding proposal under subpara-graph 10(b) involving a study or analysis approved by the Advisory Panel shall be deemed to advance the purpose of such tubparagraph.
Any petition for approval of a funding proposal under subparagraph 10(c) or under subparagraph 10(b) (other than a study or analysis approved by the Advi-sory Panel) shall either reflect the concurrence of counsel for the Pools or the concurrence of the Scientific Advisor referred to in subparagraph 11(c) below.
The deter-mination of the Scientific Advi7or under subparagraph ll(c) shall be binding upon counsel for the parties.
(c)
Dr. Baruch Blumberg is hereby appointed independent Scientific Advisor.
Should Dr. Blumberg (or his successor) cease for any reason to serve in such capacity, liaison counsel for plaintiffs and counsel for l
the Pools shall jointly appoint a successor and notify the Court of such appointment.
Any petition for approval of a funding proposal under the third sentence of subparagraph l
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11(b) above shall first be submitted by liaison counsel for plaintiffs to the Scientific Advisor.
The Scientific Advisor shall determine, in his (or her) sole discretion, whether such funding proposal is reasonably calculated to advance the purposes of subparagraphs 10(b) or 10(e) above and holds promise of producing scientifically reliable and valuable results and shall endeavor to make such determination so as not to delay unreasonably the administration of the Public Health Fund.
If he (or she) determines that such criteria i
are met, the petition shall then be presented to the Court, with such concu;rence of the Scientific Advisor reflected therein.
If he (or she) determines that such criteria are not met, tne petition will not be submitted to the Court.
Plaintiffs' liaison counsel and the Scientific Advisor shall be reimbursed from the Public Health Fund, upon order of the Court, for trair time and expenses in the review process herein contemplated.
l (d)
Plaintiffs' liaison counsel may petition the Court at any time for an order directing that funding l
l shall cease in connection with any previously authorized funding proposal, if it appears to plaintiffs' liaison l
counsel that such study is obsolete, unnecessary, or scien-l tifically invalid, or is not being conducted in a scientific manner, provided that any prior legal commitment snall be i
respected..
4 (e)
The Pools shall use their best efforts to have appointed to the Advisory. Panel 4 members, such members to be selected from among a list of persons set forth in Exhibit B hereto.
In the event that 4 such persons are appointed and serving on the Advisory Panel, it is anticipated that proposals for funding of studies or analyses approved by the Advisory Panel will be given prompt consideration.
(f)
Plaintiffs' liaison counsel shall be entitled to expend funds for the purpose of retaining consult-ants to assist them in discharging the purposes of paragraphs 10 and 11, subject to Court approval.
(g)
All monies in the Public Health Fund shall be expended, or commitments made for their expenditure, within five years from the date hereof.
In the event that any monies remain in the Public Health Fund at the expira-tion of that five year period that are not committed for a specific program appruved by the Court, defendants through their counsel may apply to the Court'for an order directing l
the commitment or expenditure or such remaining monies for l
l any of the purposes of paragraph 10.
If there is any spill-1 over of funds from the Economic Loss Fund to the Public Health Fund as provided in paragraph 12, then such funds shall be expended or commitments made for their expenditure within 5 years from the date of said spillover. i
12.
The Economic Loss Fund shall be used to pay Authorized Clsims (as defined below) for economic loss, as follous:
(a)
Members of Class I and Members of Class II shall be given notice in form and through methods approved by the Court.
(b)
Members of Class I and Members of Class II shall be extended the right to submit a " Request For Claim Form (s)" in form approved by the Court, through which Class Members will be permitted to request specific categories of claim forms.
(c)
Class Members timely requesting claim forms will be supplied with the claim form (s) requested.
(d)
Claim, form (s) which are timely returned will be evaluated by plaintiffs' counsel, and will be allowed in full, in part, or disallowed, in accordance with procedures l
approved by the Court and subject to review of the court.
Claims to the extent allowed by the Court shall be " Authorized Claims."
(e)
If the total of Authorized Claims is less than the amount remaining in the Economic Loss Fund after paying (or reserving for) all charges against the l
Settlement Fund, then all Authorized Claims shall be paid in full and any balance remaining shr.ll be added to and become
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a part of the Public Health Fund.
If the total of Authorized Claims is greater than the amount remaining in the Economic Loss Fund after paying (or reserving for) all charges against the Settlement Fund, then Authorized Claims shall be paid on such basis as may be approved by the Court.
Plaintiffs' liaison counsel shall as soon as practicable file with the Court and serve on defendants' counsel a statement setting forth the total of Authorized Claims and the amount of funds, if any, to be added to the Public Health Fund pursuant to this subparagraph.
Neither TMI Defendants, nor any named plaintiffs, nor any counsel fer any party shall have any liability for or to any person with respect to determinations to allow or reject claims for economic loss, and neither TMI Defendants nor their counsel shall have any liability for or to any person with respect to decisions ccacerning amounts to reserve for charges by others against the Settlement Fund.
Plaintiffs' counsel shall make available to TMI Defendants for their inspection all claim forms submitted by Class Members, and shall supplv, upon payment of tne cost of reproducing same, a copy of any summaries, compilations or
.abulations of claims requested by any of the TMI Defendants.
13.
As soon as practicable after the execution of this Agreement, counsel shall submit the Agreement to the.
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s Court for the purpose of approving communication of its terms by notice to the classes, and shall submit to the Court a proposed order or orders containing substantially the following matters, which order or orders is or are hereby consented to by the parties signatory hereto:
(a)
Specifying the appropriate form or forms of notice to be given to the classes, the manner of giving such notice, and directing that such notice be given by plaintiffs, as well as the manner for filing proof of the giving of such notice.
(b)
Directing that a post office box shall be rented in the name of the clerk of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania (the
" Clerk"), to be used in receiving completed Requests for Claim Forme and Requests for Exclusion from potential Class Members, as provided in the notice, and providing that (i) the Clerk and members of the Plaintiffs' Executive Committee i
and their designated representatives shall have access to l
the box, (ii) that such Requests for Claim Forms and Requests for Exclusion shall be available for inspection and copying by the TMI Defendants or their designated representatives, and (iii) directing plaintiffs' counsel to supply to defen-dants' counsel, within ten (10) days after rhe expiration of the time for receiving Request for Exclusion forms, a list l
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(in alphabetical order) of all persons who or which timely submitted a Request for Exclusion.
(c)
Directing that a hearing be held to determine the fairness, reasonableness, and adequacy of the Settlement and whether it should be approved by the Court, and to consider applications for allowances of counsel fees and expenses; fixing a date for such hearing; and providing that any Class Member who objects to the approval of this Settlement or to the judgment to be entered as a result of its approval may appear at the hearing and show cause why the Settlement should not be approved as fair, reasonable and adequate and why final judgments pursuant to Rule 54(b) should not be entered.
i (d)
Requiring that the objection of any Class Member must be made in writing and that such objection together with any supporting papers must be filed with the Court at least seven (7) days (or such greater number of days as the Court may order) prior to the hearing set by the Order and served on counsel designated in the Order, and l
l providing that only such objections shall be considered at I
the hearing.
(e)
Providing for the submission of claim rorms by Members of Class I and Members of Class II.
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J (f)
Providing that all plaintiffs and all Class Members shall forever be barred from prosecuting the Settled Claims.
(g)
Reserving jurisdiction over the further effectuation of the settlement for all purposes and for resolving any disputes that may arise.
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14.
In advance of the hearing at whicn final approval by the Court of the Settlement is sought, plaintiffs' counsel and defendants' counsel shall jointly file a motion for an order, which shall constitute a final judgment pursuant to Rule 54(b):
(a)
Finding that adequate notice has been given, approving this Agreement and the Settlement and adjudging the terms hereof to be fair, reasonable and adequate and directing consummation of the Settlement in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement.
(b)
Dismissing the action on the merits, without costs, in favor of all TMI Defendants and with prejudice to plaintiffs and all Clas's Members, with respect to all Settled Claims.
(c)
Barring all plaintiffs and all Class Members from further prosecution of the Settled Claims.
(d)
Reserving jurisdiction for the Court over the further effectuation of the Settlement.
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- a In advance of the hearing, plaintiffs shall also file peti-tions for allowances from the Settlement Fund of their litigation expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees and costs, which allowances shall be by order made final pursuant to Rule 54(b); provided, however, that no disburse-ment shall be made from the Settlement Fund on account of attorneys' fees or costs, including allowable interest thereon, until after the Effective Date of this Agreement.
15.
Without limiting the provisions of paragraph 14 hereof, the claim forms to be submitted by Members of Class I and Members of Class II shall contain a covenant not to sue any TMI Defendant with respect to any Settled Claim.
16.
In the event that for any reason this Agree-ment and the Settlement shall not be approved by the Court, or should this Agreement and the Settlement be approved by the Court but reversed on appeal, or should the orders of the Court contemplated in paragraphs 13 and 14 not be made, or made but reversed on appeal, then:
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(a)
Notwithstanding any other provision 1
i hereof, the Settlement Fund, less disbursements previously 1
authorized by the Court (including the costs of notice of I
uhe Settlement and custodial fees as provided in subparagraph 8(d)), shall immediately be returned to the Pools; and.
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(b)
This Agreement shall have no further force and effect, and shall be without prejudice to the cla'.ms, defenses, rights and contentions of TMI Defendants or plaintiffs or any Class Member herein or in any other action and the parties will move the Court to vacate any orders entered pursuant to this Agreement which are incon-sistent with restoration of such status quo.
17.
This Agreement is a settlement of all Class Claims.
This Agreement is not a settlement, bar, or release, however, with respect to claims for personal injury (other than the Class III claim) or for emotional distress, psychological harm and the like, nor should this Agreement or settlement be constru,ed as barring or releasing or other-wise adversely af 'ecting the right, if any, of any Member of Class I or Member of Class II to relief, retrospectively or prospectively, from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commissica on account of increased charges for electric power or energy I
allegedly attributable to the TMI Accident.
18.
Neither this Agreement nor any proceedings l
l hereunder shall be construed as nor deemed to be evidence of any admission on the cart of TMI Defendants of any liability l
l or wrongdoing whatsoever, or of the truth of the averments t
of the complaint in this action or an admission of any lack l
l of merit in their defenses, nor shall this Agreement, or any i
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J of the terms hereof (other than the terms of paragraph 17),
or any of the negotiations or proceedings connected herewith, be offered or received in' evidence against any TMI Defendant or any other person in this action or in any other proceeding of any kind, whether judicial or administrative.
Nothing in this Agreement or in any proceedings pursuant hereto shall be deemed as rescinding, amending, modifying or otherwise affecting any outstanding denials of coverage or reservations cf rights as to coverage questions on the part of the Pools, such denials and reservations remaining in full force and effect; nor shall this Agreement, or any of the terms hereof, or any of the negotiations or proceedings connected herewith, constitute an admission by the Pools that the claims of class members necessarily constitute claims for "public liability" or constitute claims for which coverage is provided under the policies issued by the Pools; provided, however, that this Agreement may be-used for purposes of the Settle-ment and its effectuation and the dismissal proceedings which it contemplates.
19.
If, within thirty (30) days after the date fixed by the Court for members of Classes I and II to exclude themselves pursuant to Rule 23, the Pools, in their reason-able judgment, determine that a substantial risk of additional litigation exposure to persons who cr which exclude themselves from Classes I or II would remain despite this Settlement, m
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the Pools shall have the right to withdraw from this Agree-ment, and this Agreement shall become null and void.
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Pools' right t'o withdraw shall be exercised, if at all, within the thirty day period by service of written notics f
the election to withdraw on plaintiffs' liaison counsel by hand' delivery or certified mail, with a copy filed with the Court.
20.
The stipulation between the parties dated October 10, 1980 shall retain its full force and effect.
A copy of that stipulation is attached hereto as Exhibit "A" and incorporated herein.
21.
The undersigned represent that they are authorized by their respective clients and co-counsel to execute this Agreement on behalf of their clients and to take all steps which this Agreement contemplates to effec-tuate the Settlement of this action, and the parties and the Pools, through their counsel, agree that they will take all steps which this Agreement contemplates to effectuate the Settlement of this action.
22.
This Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original copy of the Agreement.
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This Agreement is dated as of Februar,'; 17, 1981 and shall be deemed to have been executed on such date.
e DAV BERGER, P.A.
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As plaintiffs' l].aison Counsel and on behalf of all plaintiffs and their counsel PEPPER, HAMILTON & SCHEET2 6
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As' counsel for TMI Defendants
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