PPL Corporation has reached a tentative agreement with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to pay $1.5 million to settle the lawsuit filed by the agency in connection with a fly ash spill 17 months ago, company officials said today.

Cleanup of the spill has been complete since March 2006. Testing and continued monitoring have shown:

• No adverse effect on area drinking water.
• No evidence that the spill affected the safety of fishing, boating or swimming in the Delaware River.
• No short-term biological effects on the river.

A review by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency determined that PPL took all appropriate steps in the cleanup.

The plant equipment that caused the August 2005 spill at the Martins Creek power plant in Lower Mount Bethel Township, Pa., has been repaired and redesigned. PPL also has made changes at other plants where ash basins had a similar design.

“We said from the beginning that PPL would do the right thing to address the fly ash spill, and it’s clear from our rapid response and thorough cleanup that we honored that promise,” said Bob Barkanic, PPL’s director of Environmental Management. “Clearly, this spill was not consistent with our high operating standards.”

Through Sept. 30, 2006, PPL has recorded $37 million of estimated costs related to the spill and does not anticipate recording any additional charges as a result of the DEP settlement, Barkanic said.

“We will continue to take all the appropriate steps,” he said, including the ongoing study of the river’s biology, as well as testing of river water, sediment and residential wells.

PPL continues to cooperate with the Natural Resources Damage Assessment team, headed by the DEP and consisting of state and federal resource agencies. The team is considering whether there were any effects of the spill on the river’s biology, on wildlife habitats and on people’s enjoyment of the river as a recreation resource.
 
PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL), headquartered in Allentown, Pa., controls more than 11,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States, sells energy in key U.S. markets and delivers electricity to more than 5 million customers in Pennsylvania, the United Kingdom and Latin America.