Well it's not DWS, and it's before the locks, so no boats are going through this stretch.
I just found out that Dismal Rock at Nolin River Dam is owned by the Army Corps of Engineers, and you can climb there. Do you think that climbers had to get permission to climb there first?
"It is difficult to estimate the potential damage of solvents; therefore the middle of the rope should never be marked with a felt-tip pen or similar. Although a danger might be improbable, it should never be ignored." Mammut
People have been climbing at dismal since the days of star drives. The main chimney was climbed decades ago. The newest groups of folks to climb there regularly have had a relationship with the corp... They also weren't the kind of people to have meetups, "make a place public", or talk about shit on the internet. They got to climb without worrying because they just minded their own business and had fun climbing in the woods.