Willow Lake Mine Honored as Safest Underground Mine in Fourth Quarter 2010

ST. LOUIS, Feb. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Peabody Energy announced today that its Willow Lake Mine in Illinois earned recognition by the John E. Jones Council of the Holmes Safety Association as the safest underground mine in the region during the fourth quarter of 2010. 

The award was presented at the council's January meeting and marked Willow Lake's incident rate for the quarter as the safest among council mines in Southeastern Illinois. The mine improved its safety rate 65 percent during the period, due to a combination of expanded safety training, operational changes and ongoing audits.  

"This past year, Peabody has taken aggressive structural steps to improve our safety processes at Willow Lake, and this honor recognizes the efforts and commitment of the workforce," says Chuck Burggraf, Senior Vice President Operations – Midwest. "The mine's management team continues to actively engage MSHA, the state of Illinois, the workforce and union representation on safety and compliance awareness and training."

In 2010, Willow Lake Mine joined all Peabody operations worldwide in idling production to focus on safety, with emphasis on hazard recognition, emergency preparedness and sharing of best practices.

Peabody achieved another record year in safety in 2010, extending three consecutive years of improvement in the company's global safety rate. The company's 2010 U.S. incident rate was less than half the industry average. During the past year, Peabody earned more than 10 awards for safety and emergency preparedness, including the Sentinels of Safety Award – the nation's highest safety honor.

Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) is the world's largest private-sector coal company, with 2010 sales of 246 million tons and nearly $7 billion in revenues. Its coal products fuel 10 percent of all U.S. electricity generation and 2 percent of worldwide electricity.

SOURCE Peabody Energy