Virginia regulators study fly-ash disposal regulations

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) — Virginia regulators are weighing whether to change the state’s regulations for disposal of fly ash produced by coal-fired power plants.
  A panel of the Department of Environmental Quality is scheduled to meet Thursday in Richmond to discuss the issue. The panel will make recommendations to another committee that is studying the state’s solid-waste regulations.
  Currently, some fly-ash projects are exempted from the regulations if they meet ``beneficial use’‘ criteria.
  Fly ash can contain arsenic, mercury, lead or other heavy metals. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has determined that fly ash is not hazardous waste. But it is subject to regulation as an industrial waste.