April 8, 2004 - Oyster Creek Reaches Voluntary Settlement With the State; Environmental Groups Benefit Contact: Gina G. Scala - 609-971-2180                Ann Mary Carley 630.657.3602 FORKED RIVER, N.J. - The Oyster Creek Generating Station and the State of New Jersey agreed today to settle and resolve all matters related to the Sept. 23, 2002 water permit violation at the station. Under the terms of the agreement reached with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the Attorney General's office, Oyster Creek will pay a total of $1 million that will be distributed to several state organizations and environmental causes. The settlement resolves the 2002 event that resulted in the loss of nearly 6,000 fish. The event occurred because the station equipment was out of service for planned maintenance which caused the discharge water temperatures to rise resulting in the fish kill. "We have taken full responsibility for the incident, and we have reached a settlement with the State,'' Oyster Creek Site Vice President Bud Swenson said. "We've learned from this event. Our goal as an organization is to continually improve our overall operational and environmental performance and specifically to constantly improve our environmental performance with a focus on being a strong environmental steward. As the State recognized, we voluntarily took immediate actions to ensure that this situation does not occur again." The agreements reflect that, before the State's involvement, the Station already had undertaken voluntary actions to prevent any recurrence and the Station has continued to cooperate fully with the State. Under the terms of the agreements, Oyster Creek will: (1) pay a $440,000 civil fine; and (2) make a payment of approximately $183,000 for natural resource damages that will be used for restoration and conservation purposes. In addition, over the next three years Oyster Creek will donate approximately $380,000 to local non-profit entities dedicated to environmental and educational causes. The Barnegat Bay Estuary Program will receive a one-time sum of $75,000 for installation of equipment to expand its bay water temperature monitors. The Natural Resource Education Foundation of New Jersey will receive about $302,000, earmarked exclusively for the Lighthouse Camp in Waretown, according to the terms of the settlement. The Lighthouse Camp will use the contribution toward staffing the site and facility improvements. "AmerGen is strongly committed to the environment and to this community. While we sincerely regret the circumstances of our donations, we are pleased that the ultimate resolution allows us to support two very worthwhile local environmental organizations," Swenson said. To ensure that this does not happen again, Oyster Creek evaluated the September 2002 event and implemented a comprehensive plan that fortifies processes and procedures, as well as raises personnel awareness through training.