CHARLESTON, W.Va. (February 20, 2009) - Arch Coal, Inc. (NYSE: ACI) today announced that its Coal-Mac, Inc. subsidiary has earned top honors for mine safety from the West Virginia Office of Miners' Health Safety and Training.

The Bart B. Lay, Jr. Milestones of Safety Award was presented to Coal-Mac's Holden 22 mine for the best safety performance among West Virginia surface coal mines in 2008.

In addition to earning the state's top safety award, Arch subsidiaries earned two additional West Virginia awards for their achievements in employee safety:

• Coal-Mac's Phoenix 4 mine received a Mountaineer Guardian Award.  Coal-Mac's surface employees completed 699,954 hours incident-free in 2008.

• Mountain Laurel's Cardinal Preparation Plant received a Mountaineer Guardian Award for working a total of 128,795 hours without a single reportable injury since opening in 2005.

"We're very proud of the safety accomplishments earned by Coal-Mac and Mountain Laurel's Cardinal Prep Plant," said John W. Eaves, Arch's president and chief operating officer. "These world-class operations are proof that safety and productivity go hand-in-hand, and that our corporate goal of A Perfect Zero is achievable."

Coal-Mac, Inc. and Mingo Logan Coal Company are wholly owned subsidiaries of Arch Coal, Inc. Coal-Mac is located near Holden, W.Va., and employs approximately 300 people. Mingo Logan's Mountain Laurel complex and its Cardinal Prep Plant are located near Sharples, W.Va., with a total workforce of roughly 325. Combined, these operations produced 8 million tons of Central Appalachian coal in 2008.

St. Louis-based Arch Coal is one of the nation's largest coal producers, with revenues of $3.0 billion in 2008. The company's core business is providing U.S. power generators with clean-burning, low-sulfur coal for electric generation. Through its national network of mines, Arch supplies the fuel for approximately 6 percent of the electricity generated in the United States. A list of environmental and safety awards is available at http://www.archcoal.com/aboutus/awards.asp.