# Muskrat Falls

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{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2021}}{{Short description|Waterfall}}
'''Muskrat Falls''' was a natural {{Convert|15|m|adj=on}} [waterfall](/source/waterfall) located on the [Churchill River](/source/Churchill_River_(Atlantic)) about {{Convert|25|km}} west of [Happy Valley-Goose Bay](/source/Happy_Valley-Goose_Bay), [Labrador](/source/Labrador).

The [hydropower](/source/hydropower) potential of Muskrat Falls was recognized in the early 1900s when the Grand River Pulp and Lumber Company proposed to build a [dam](/source/dam) along with a paper mill. Neither was ever constructed. In the early 1970s an engineering and [geotechnical](/source/geotechnical) survey was carried out to determine the hydro potential of the site. The site was developed as part of the [Lower Churchill Project](/source/Lower_Churchill_Project), despite concerns of [methylmercury](/source/methylmercury) poisoning by researchers and local [Inuit](/source/Inuit).<ref name="MyUser_Cbc.ca_November_11_2016">{{cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/muskrat-falls-labrador-mehylmercury-1.3821827 |title=Scientists back Inuit in efforts to limit mercury poisoning risk from Muskrat Falls hydro project - Technology & Science - CBC News |newspaper=Cbc.ca |date=  |author= |access-date= November 11, 2016}}</ref><ref name="MyUser_Cbc.ca_November_11_2016c">{{cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/harvard-research-hydroelectric-projects-methylmercury-1.2879212 |title=Not just Muskrat Falls: Harvard study identifies higher health risk in 11 other hydro projects - Newfoundland & Labrador - CBC News |newspaper=Cbc.ca |date=  |author= |access-date= November 11, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author1=Olsen|first=Deidre|date=2018-12-07|title=How Activists Are Resisting a Megadam That Threatens 'Cultural Genocide'|work=Vice|publisher=|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-activists-are-resisting-a-megadam-that-threatens-cultural-genocide/|access-date=2021-06-14}}</ref>

It is rumored{{according to|date=January 2020}} that in 1944 the crew of a German [submarine](/source/submarine) had beached it at the falls when they decided to withdraw from [World War II](/source/World_War_II).{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}} The rumour inspired a novel by Walter Sellars, ''Hard Aground'' published in 1992,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kelly|first=Ann|date=October 1992|title=Book Review: Hard Aground|url=http://www.umanitoba.ca/cm/cmarchive/vol20no5/revhardaground.html|url-status=dead|journal=CM Archive|volume=20|issue=5|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200124224303/http://www.umanitoba.ca/cm/cmarchive/vol20no5/revhardaground.html|archive-date=2020-01-24}}</ref>  but was thought to be unsupported. In 2010, coast guards searching for three men who died after being carried over Muskrat Falls found a {{Convert|30|m|4=-long|adj=mid}} object on the bottom of the [Churchill River](/source/Churchill_River_(Atlantic)), believed by diver Brian Corbin to be the missing [U-boat](/source/U-boat).<ref>{{Citation
| url = https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/german-u-boat-may-be-at-bottom-of-labrador-river-1.1164735
| title = German U-boat may be at bottom of Labrador river 
| work = CBC News
| publication-date = July 25, 2012
| publisher = [Canadian Broadcasting Corporation](/source/Canadian_Broadcasting_Corporation)
| access-date = July 27, 2012
}}</ref> However, examination of historical records shows this to be unlikely, and the sonar images were quite grainy.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hopper|first=Tristan|date=2013-04-19|title=Group on mission to prove there is truth in legends that Nazi submarines went far inland from Canadian coast|url=https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/group-on-mission-to-prove-there-is-truth-in-legends-that-nazi-submarines-went-far-inland-from-canadian-coast|access-date=2021-06-15|website=National Post|language=en-CA}}</ref>

{{coord|53|14|44|N|60|46|17|W|region:CA-NL_type:waterbody_scale:10000|display=title|notes=<ref>{{cite web  | last =  | first =  | authorlink =  | title =GeoNames Query -Muskrat Falls: Query Record Details  | work =Natural Resources Canada  | publisher =Government of Canada  | date =2008-11-09  | url =http://geonames2.nrcan.gc.ca/cgi-bin/v9/sima_unique_v9?english?AAPAA?C  | format =  | doi =  | access-date =2008-11-09  | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110608150623/http://geonames2.nrcan.gc.ca/cgi-bin/v9/sima_unique_v9?english%3FAAPAA%3FC  | archive-date =2011-06-08  | url-status =dead  }}</ref>}}

==See also==
*[List of waterfalls of Canada](/source/List_of_waterfalls_of_Canada)
*[Lower Churchill Project](/source/Lower_Churchill_Project)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

Category:Labrador
Category:Waterfalls of Newfoundland and Labrador
Category:Churchill Falls

{{Newfoundland-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Muskrat Falls](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muskrat_Falls) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muskrat_Falls?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.