Jan. 28--A bill to better regulate fly ash is well-intentioned, but too narrowly written to actually address the problem.

Fly ash, the residue left after coal is burned to generate electricity, can contain arsenic, lead and other heavy metals. When it is improperly disposed of, these toxins can leach into nearby rivers or ground water.

Sen. John Edwards, DRoanoke, introduced legislation to require a solid waste permit from the state Department of Environmental Quality if fly ash is used or disposed of in a 100-year flood plain.

That proposal is certainly an improvement over the current situation.

Right now, if fly ash is put to a "beneficial use" when it is disposed of -- as construction fill, for instance, or for embankments along roadways -- its disposal is unregulated.

For instance, a controversial project in Giles County is using coal ash to create a seven-acre site for development along the New River. No monitoring wells or liners are required, even though the project is in a flood-prone area.

But Edwards' bill would only fix that problem in some areas. Fly ash used outside flood plains would remain unregulated.

That isn't acceptable. Ask the neighbors of the Battlefield Golf Club at Centerville in Chesapeake. The course, which was sculpted using 1.5 million tons of fly ash, has become a potential Superfund site as contamination has leached into the groundwater around the course.

Edwards' bill would not have prevented that disaster.

"I don't know that it makes things any worse, but I don't think it does much to address the very large problem we have with poorly regulated coal combustion waste in Virginia," said David Bernard, the water quality chairman for the Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club.

Edwards appears to be pushing a narrowly drafted bill hoping that will be easier to pass. He said neither Appalachian Power Co. nor Dominion Virginia Power had issues with the bill.

That, frankly, ought to be less important than whether the bill addresses the real problems.

Unfortunately, as currently written, this bill does not.

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