Emory River closure extended, no boat traffic until February

Tennessee Valley Authority and the Environmental Protection Agency have extended the closure of a 1.5 mile stretch of Roane County's Emory River in the wake of last winter's ash spill.

A spokesman for TVA told 10News Thursday, the Emory River will likely remained closed until February.

For the most part, it's not stopping people from using the waterways around Roane County, and fishermen say they haven't noticed a drop-off in what they take home.

Many fishermen say they avoid the area and it hasn't posed problems. First year boat-owner David Turner says he's never had the chance to tackle the Emory River.

The whole area, even before the ash spill, was always just a little spooky.

"It scares me just, I don't know," Turner, a Harriman resident said. "Prior to the spill there were always boats up in that area."

Since the spill there have been no boats in the area.

August 11, the EPA and TVA closed the river to boat traffic for a month.

Then, they extended the closure another month.

Thursday, they confirmed the area will be closed to boat traffic until February 15, 2010. TVA says it is simply a safety issue, mixing boat traffic with the heavy dredging equipment and booms could spell a nightmare.

As for the four month closure after a series of much sooner estimates, TVA says they now have a much better understanding of just what the dredging job entails.

They have brought more dredging equipment to the site and have the ability to clear more ash from the river faster. They now have 4 large dredges on site.

However, getting the ash dry enough to load onto a railroad car has been another issue. If they've got a train-load full of ash waiting to dry-out, they cannot dredge more from the river and simply add to the pile.

"They got some clean up going on, there is some film in the water for sure," David Kelley, a boater visiting from Knoxville said. "The film it gets on your hands and your equipment and stuff."

Still, Kelley says the fishing seems to still be decent just a few miles away from the TVA steam plant. He says this year a few tournament winning catches have been made in the area near the plant.

"If I can fish around the corner and can catch fish, I'm going to catch fish around the corner," Turner said.