106455--4/2/2007--WESTMORELAND_COAL

related topics

{cost, contract, operation}

{cost, regulation, environmental}

{financial, litigation, operation}

{acquisition, growth, future}

{operation, natural, condition}

{cost, operation, labor}

{personnel, key, retain}

{system, service, information}

{loss, insurance, financial}

{debt, indebtedness, cash}

{control, financial, internal}

{provision, law, control}

{customer, product, revenue}

{gas, price, oil}

{investment, property, distribution}

We are a party to numerous legal proceedings, some of which, if determined unfavorably to us, could result in significant monetary damages. We may not be able to manage our expanding operations effectively, which could impair our profitability. The implementation of a new company-wide computer system could disrupt our internal operations. Our growth and development strategy could require significant resources and may not be successful. Our expenditures for postretirement medical benefits could be materially higher than we have predicted if our underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect. We have a significant amount of debt, which imposes restrictions on us and may limit our flexibility, and a decline in our operating performance may materially affect our ability to meet our future financial commitments and liquidity needs. If the cost of obtaining new reclamation bonds and renewing existing reclamation bonds continues to increase or if we are unable to obtain additional bonding capacity, our profitability could be reduced. Our financial position could be adversely affected if we fail to maintain our Coal Act bonds. We face competition for sales to new and existing customers, and the loss of sales or a reduction in the prices we receive under new or renewed contracts would lower our revenues and could reduce our profitability. Stricter environmental regulations, including regulations recently adopted by the EPA, could reduce the demand for coal as a fuel source and cause the volume of our sales to decline. New legislation or regulations in the United States aimed at limiting emissions of greenhouse gases could increase the cost of using coal or restrict the use of coal, which could reduce demand for our coal, cause our profitability to suffer and reduce the value of our assets. Demand for our coal could also be reduced by environmental regulations at the state level. We have significant reclamation and mine closure obligations. If the assumptions underlying our accruals are materially inaccurate, or if we are required to cover reclamation obligations that have been assumed by our customers or contractors, we could be required to expend greater amounts than we currently anticipate, which could affect our profitability in future periods. Our profitability could be affected by unscheduled outages at the power plants we supply or own or if the scheduled maintenance outages at the power plants we supply or own last longer than anticipated. Increases in the cost of the fuel, electricity and materials and the availability of tires we use in the operation of our mines could affect our profitability. If we experience unanticipated increases in the capital expenditures we expect to make over the next several years, our liquidity and/or profitability could suffer. Our ability to operate effectively and achieve our strategic goals could be impaired if we lose key personnel. Provisions of our certificate of incorporation, bylaws and Delaware law, and our stockholder rights plan, may have anti-takeover effects that could prevent a change of control of our company that stockholders may consider favorable, and the market price of our common stock may be lower as a result. Our ability to operate effectively and achieve our strategic goals depends on maintaining satisfactory labor relations. We have had material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting in the past and cannot assure that additional material weaknesses will not be identified in the future. Our failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could result in material misstatements in our financial statements which could require us to restate financial statements, cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information and have a negative effect on our stock price. We may face risks related to an SEC investigation and securities litigation in connection with the restatement of our financial statements.

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106455--4/2/2007--WESTMORELAND_COAL_CO