Westmoreland Announces Receipt of Prestigious Carolina Star Award

Westmoreland Coal Company (NasdaqGM:WLB) today announced that its Westmoreland Partners’ subsidiary that owns and operates the Roanoke Valley Energy Facility (ROVA) in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina successfully completed recertification and was awarded North Carolina’s highest recognition for workplace safety, the Carolina Star award.

Recognition as a Carolina Star site is the highest safety and health designation awarded by the N.C. Department of Labor with only 96 businesses in North Carolina having received Star status. ROVA remains the only electrical generating station in North Carolina to achieve this status.

"Employee involvement and ownership support are at the heart of our safety culture,” said Don Keisling, manager of the ROVA facility. "This achievement would not have been possible without the hard work of the ROVA employees. They are the ones that make the safety program work and maintain our safety culture.”

About Westmoreland Coal Company

Westmoreland Coal Company is the oldest independent coal company in the United States. Its coal operations include coal mining in the Powder River Basin in Montana, sub-bituminous mining in Wyoming, and lignite mining operations in Montana, North Dakota and Texas. Its power operations include ownership of the two-unit ROVA coal-fired power plant in North Carolina. For more information, visit www.westmoreland.com.