State regulators have approved Appalachian Power’s plan to move tons of coal ash created by its now-retired Glen Lyn power plant to a future landfill on the property.

Coal ash, also known as coal combustion residuals, is a byproduct of burning coal and a potentially harmful industrial waste. Appalachian Power has nearly 6.8 million cubic yards of it in an existing landfill and several ponds on the plant property.

The 335-megawatt power plant, in Giles County near the border between Virginia and West Virginia, stopped producing electricity in 2015 after federal regulators enacted stricter emissions standards. A 2020 Virginia law required the company to either recycle the coal ash or put it in a newer, more modern landfill.