The Watts Bar Riverboat Company, currently located a spell down the river in Kingston, recently decided to relocate to local waters.  The company will dock the Belle at Fort Loudon Marina and continue operations here in what's dubbed "The Lake Capitol of the South."  

General Manager Francie Harkenrider said, the fly-ash spill at the fossil fuel plant has resulted in several cancellations and proves indeed to be bad business.  Relying on revenue from its many cruises, such as dinner and sightseeing outings, the multi-thousand-dollar vessel simply cannot operate safely under such circumstances or under the negative press encompassing the area.

Two New Year's cruises sunk, as it were, following the news of the Tennessee Valley spill, she said.  The sightseeing and dinner cruises are also losing business because of the contaminated area.  "We just can't afford to stay here with the water the way it is," Harkenrider said.

Francie's daughter, Ashley Harkenrider, who also works with the company, said the Watts Bar Riverboat Company is one of the few businesses negatively affected by the spill since it is located right there on the river, gift shop and all, across a long dock that leads across now murky brown water.  

HEPACO Incorporated, an emergency and environmental response company, had crews — some along the bank, others in small boats — cleaning and blowing debris and sludge toward the banks to capture in yellow tubes, in sections atop the water near the company, which is roughly one mile south of Exit 352 off Interstate 40.  

Ashley said that cleanup efforts, though, have been efficient.  "TVA is doing a really good job cleaning it up," she said, further commenting that crews have been working around the clock, obviously taking the matter very seriously, especially considering all the media attention the area has received.  

The company's been in existence since 2005, started by a group of investors from the Kingston area, its Web site notes.  Over the course of following years, the group began to expand, acquiring another, much smaller boat prior to the purchase of the La Crosse Queen V, later renamed Watts Bar Belle.  The company constructed in 2006 what it believed to be a permanent dock and ticket office at the time. 

Harken rider said they haven't decided whether the move to Loudon County will be permanent, or if they'll go back after the area is cleaned.

According to the company's brochure, "The Watts Bar Belle is one of the few remaining true split-wheel paddleboats in existence today, similar to those that plied America's great waterways in the early 1900s."  The Belle is 64 feet in length and can occupy at least 149 passengers.  It rolls the river with the energy of twin diesel engines "that provide hydraulic power to the paddles," quite unlike the propellers of other similar riverboats, the brochure notes.  It's been approved by the U.S. Coast Guard and will be coming to Loudon County.

Though the exact date has yet to be released, the Watts Bar Riverboat Company will soon be calling Fort Loudon Marina home, at least temporarily.