ST. LOUIS (July 22, 2004) - Arch Coal, Inc. (NYSE: ACI) today announced that Patricia Fry Godley, age 56, has been elected to its board of directors effective immediately. Ms. Godley will serve on the board's finance committee and the personnel and compensation committee.

"It is with great pleasure that I welcome Pat Godley to our board of directors," said Steven F. Leer, Arch Coal's president and chief executive officer. "Pat's twenty-five years of experience in the energy sector, including her direct work with the Department of Energy, will be a strong addition to our governing board."

Ms. Godley is a partner with the law firm Van Ness Feldman, P.C. in Washington, D.C., where she represents major electric and natural gas utilities in regulatory, public policy, and transactional matters. Previously, she served as the Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), where she managed federal investment in fossil energy research and development, including clean coal technologies. During her term at DOE, Ms. Godley also supervised the sale of the U.S.-owned Elk Hills oil field in California for $3.65 billion, in the largest privatization in the nation's history.

In addition to serving as a director for Arch Coal, Ms. Godley also serves as general counsel and a director of the United States Energy Association. Ms. Godley is a member of the American Bar Association, the Energy Bar Association, the D.C. Bar Association and the Texas Bar Association.

Ms. Godley holds a bachelor of arts degree from Trinity University, a master of arts from Memphis State University, and a doctorate of jurisprudence from the University of Texas where she served as managing editor of the Texas Law Review.

St. Louis-based Arch Coal is one of the nation's largest coal producers and mines clean-burning, low-sulfur coal exclusively. Through its subsidiary operations in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah, Arch provides the fuel for approximately 6 percent of the electricity generated in the United States.