-----BEGIN PRIVACY-ENHANCED MESSAGE----- Proc-Type: 2001,MIC-CLEAR Originator-Name: webmaster@www.sec.gov Originator-Key-Asymmetric: MFgwCgYEVQgBAQICAf8DSgAwRwJAW2sNKK9AVtBzYZmr6aGjlWyK3XmZv3dTINen TWSM7vrzLADbmYQaionwg5sDW3P6oaM5D3tdezXMm7z1T+B+twIDAQAB MIC-Info: RSA-MD5,RSA, Fn4bSFSidyI6bf/BmsgEE0Y3DvH8mfUW8Uaz7Al+WL7scyc6DujobKSUKBv7mBIh bUNxtAnj5EUC9q6JJD+swg== 0000065350-96-000001.txt : 19960613 0000065350-96-000001.hdr.sgml : 19960613 ACCESSION NUMBER: 0000065350-96-000001 CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE: 8-K PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT: 3 CONFORMED PERIOD OF REPORT: 19960607 ITEM INFORMATION: Other events ITEM INFORMATION: Financial statements and exhibits FILED AS OF DATE: 19960611 SROS: NYSE FILER: COMPANY DATA: COMPANY CONFORMED NAME: METROPOLITAN EDISON CO CENTRAL INDEX KEY: 0000065350 STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION: ELECTRIC SERVICES [4911] IRS NUMBER: 230870160 STATE OF INCORPORATION: PA FISCAL YEAR END: 1231 FILING VALUES: FORM TYPE: 8-K SEC ACT: 1934 Act SEC FILE NUMBER: 001-00446 FILM NUMBER: 96579456 BUSINESS ADDRESS: STREET 1: 2800 POTTSVILLE PIKE STREET 2: MUHLENBERG TOWNSHIP CITY: BERKS COUNTY STATE: PA ZIP: 19605 BUSINESS PHONE: 2159293601 8-K 1 REPORT DOCUMENT SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549 ___________________ FORM 8-K CURRENT REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 Date of Report (date of earliest event reported): June 7, 1996 PENNSYLVANIA ELECTRIC COMPANY (Exact name of registrant as specified in charter) Pennsylvania 1-3522 25-0718085 (State or other (Commission (IRS employer jurisdiction of file number) identification no.) incorporation) 2800 Pottsville Pike, Reading, Muhlenberg Township, Berks County, PA 19640-0001 (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code) Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (610) 929- 3601 ITEM 5. OTHER EVENTS (a) Three Mile Island Litigation On June 7, 1996, Judge Rambo of the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania granted a motion for summary judgment filed by the Company and its affiliates and dismissed all 2,100 pending lawsuits claiming personal injury as a result of the March 1979 Three Mile Island Unit No. 2 accident. In essence, Judge Rambo ruled in her 97-page opinion that plaintiffs had failed to demonstrate that they were exposed to "cancer inducing levels of radiation." She found that, in reviewing the record in the case for any and all evidence, viewed in a light most favorable to the plaintiffs, there was no evidence which created a genuine issue of material fact warranting submission of plaintiffs' claims to a jury. The Court had earlier excluded or restricted testimony from most of the plaintiffs' proposed expert witnesses, finding that it was not "scientifically based and reliable and based upon good grounds." The first 10 allegedly "representative" cases had been scheduled for trial later in June, but were delayed indefinitely pending Judge Rambo's decision on dismissing the lawsuits. It is expected that the plaintiffs will appeal Judge Rambo's ruling. A copy of General Public Utilities Corporation's related news release is attached as an exhibit. 1 ITEM 7. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, PRO FORMA FINANCIAL INFORMATION AND EXHIBITS (c) Exhibits 1. News release dated June 10, 1996. SIGNATURE PURSUANT TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934, THE REGISTRANT HAS DULY CAUSED THIS REPORT TO BE SIGNED ON ITS BEHALF BY THE UNDERSIGNED THEREUNTO DULY AUTHORIZED. PENNSYLVANIA ELECTRIC COMPANY By:______________________________ Terrance G. Howson, Vice President and Treasurer Date: June 11, 1996 EX-99 2 EXHIBIT INDEX EXHIBITS TO BE FILED BY EDGAR Exhibits (c) Exhibits 1. News release dated June 10, 1996. EX-99 3 EXHIBIT 1 Exhibit 1 (GPU NEWS RELEASE LETTERHEAD) John T. Fidler 201-263-6479 June 10, 1996 Ray E. Dotter 96-015 717-948-8805 Immediately GPU OFFICIALS: JUDGE'S RULING CONSISTENT WITH SCIENCE Parsippany, N.J., June 10, 1996 -- Officials at General Public Utilities Corporation said today that the decision by a federal judge to dismiss the personal injury cases stemming from the 1979 accident at Three Mile Island Unit 2 was consistent with reliable science. "While we have great sympathy for people with serious illnesses and for their families, the court's decision is consistent with what reliable science says: that the TMI-2 accident did not cause the illnesses claimed by the plaintiffs," GPU officials said in a statement. Late Friday, Judge Sylvia H. Rambo, chief judge of the Middle District of Pennsylvania, granted GPU's motion for summary judgement in the case involving 2,100 lawsuits claiming personal injury as a result of the accident. Judge Rambo ruled that the plaintiffs had failed to present sufficient evidence to take the cases to a jury. She said that they had not shown that they were exposed to "cancer-inducing levels of radiation." "The court has searched the record for any and all evidence which, construed in a light most favorable to plaintiffs, creates 1 a genuine issue of material fact warranting submission of their claims to a jury. This effort has been in vain," she wrote in her 97-page opinion. She added that the lack of proof supporting the plaintiffs case was "manifest." GPU and the other defendants in the cases had asked the court to dismiss the lawsuits after the judge excluded or restricted testimony from most of the plaintiffs' proposed expert witnesses. She had ruled that their testimony was not "scientifically valid and reliable and based upon good grounds." In a statement, GPU officials added, "Thousands of pages of evidence have been submitted. The judge has heard many days of expert testimony. No valid, reliable evidence was submitted to contradict what science has said about the accident." The first 10 cases were expected to go to trial this month. On May 30, Judge Rambo delayed the trials indefinitely and delayed her decision on dismissing the lawsuits. GPU expects the plaintiffs to appeal the ruling. 2 -----END PRIVACY-ENHANCED MESSAGE-----