Roadblock removed in prosecution of Davis-Besse trio

7/29/2006

A settlement was announced yesterday over some disputed nuclear industry-related documents that had the potential of further delaying the government's criminal case against three former Davis-Besse engineers.

The dispute originally centered on 146 documents FirstEnergy claimed it had a right to withhold from one of the defendants, Andrew Siemaszko, 51, of Spring, Texas, for proprietary reasons.

The other two, David Geisen, 45, of DePere, Wis., and Rodney N. Cook, 55, of Millington, Tenn., did not challenge FirstEnergy's desire to have the documents placed under a protective order.

Mr. Siemaszko's attorneys, Chuck Boss of Maumee, and Billie Pirner Garde of Washington, said they were able to retrieve some of the documents on their own.

In both a statement to the court and an interview with The Blade, they said FirstEnergy agreed to provide the remaining documents they sought. Those documents will be put under seal with the understanding that privacy information of other employees will be kept secret.