<< Back 6/5/02 No lasting effect from spill, official says SMN Despite efforts to contain a diesel fuel spill above the dam at Lake Emory, fishermen reported a slick on the Little Tennessee below the dam last week. Jerry Anselmo, guide and owner of the Great Smoky Mountains Fish Camp on the river just below Iotla bridge, said he discovered the slick last Wednesday(May 29) evening when he was guiding a trip. The diesel spill occurred Wednesday night or early Thursday morning (May 22 or 23) when a sand dredging barge sank and spiled approximately 400 gallons of diesel fuel. Crews from eight local and state agencies worked all day May 23 to try and contain the spill above the dam to protect endangered and threatened mussels and fish species downstream. Anselmo said he had heard about the sunken barge in Lake Emory but that reports he had heard said the spill was contained above the dam. As he approached the dam last Wednesday evening with his clients, a sports writer and an executive from Shakespeare Fishing Tackle, Anselmo said they began to see a “rainbow sheen” upon the water. Closer to the dam, Anselmo said he found parts of a boom (used to clean oil spills) saturated in oil and a slick about 30 yards long. Anselmo contacted U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service out of concern. “This river is my livelihood,” he said. USF&W biologist Mark Cantrell surveyed the river from the dam to Iotla bridge Saturday, June 1. Using snorkeling gear, Cantrell surveyed fish and mussel habitat. “There doesn’t appear to be any short-term damage. We will continue to monitor the area to check for long-term effects,” Cantrell said. Cantrell said it looked like the boom Anselmo saw had been placed below the dam to catch any spill that escaped the lake but the current was too strong and dislodged it. He said the aquatic species he saw Saturday all appeared to be healthy.