Lake Quannapowitt

Lake Quannapowitt is a location in the Commonwealth in Fallout 4.

Background
A once-popular tourist location, Lake Quannapowitt was heavily polluted by radioactive particles and heavy metals. Nearby industries such as the General Atomics factory, Saugus Ironworks and the Corvega assembly plant were suspected to be the source. However, it was actually Mass Fusion. The Nahant Oceanological Society verified the Massachusetts Department of Natural Resources' findings and it was urged on June 25 that the mayor cancel the annual July 4th bass fishing tournament. The 2077 tournament was being sponsored by General Atomics International as a promotion for their new galleria.

It was only after this tournament in which 27 individuals suffered illness after exposure to the lake, a boat sank and the two survivors had to be treated for radiation burns that the lake was closed to the public. The survivors and families of the Lake Quannapowitt incident filed suit on the city on July 16, and a legal notice was distributed by J. Richard Thorndike, city attorney. The notice was a legal directive to preserve documents relating to the lawsuit. Although officially they declared that the suit was "baseless and without merit," that the "City Attorney's office [was] committed to a fair and impartial legal process" and they extended their official "condolences to the victims of this terrible tragedy," they knew the truth, simply that they allowed the incident to happen due to negligence. A copy of the said legal notice at the monitoring station beside the lake has J.T.'s personal handwriting to wipe the terminal to dispose of the evidence. Two centuries later, the lake is only suitable for mirelurks, bloodbugs and bloatflies.

Layout
The lake is small and littered with hostile creatures. On the west bank, there is a Department of Water building guarded by some mirelurks. Inside there is a terminal which indicates that the lake is highly irradiated and has been so since before the Great War. The northeast edge of the lake has a small boat ramp and a couple of picnic tables, where a fishing tournament ad can be found. To the north is a bridge, where random encounters may occur. A pair of streams feed into the east side of the lake and host many bloodleaf plants.

One of the streams leads to a nest of mirelurk eggs inside the sewage pipe underneath the truck with the partially overturned boat. To the east is radio tower 3SM-U81 which can be accessed by following the road, patrolled heavily by mirelurks. The lake also has a sort of billabong off to the east side. At the center of the lake, there are numerous barrels of radioactive waste. Along the perimeter are several boats and ski-doos, indicating that the water level in the lake was higher in the past. The lake also hides several containers below the surface.

Notable loot

 * Fishing tournament ad - On a picnic table at the boat launch near the green glowing mushrooms on the northern shore.
 * A legal notice and another fishing tournament ad on the desk inside of the monitoring station on the northwest shore.

Appearances
Lake Quannapowitt appears only in Fallout 4.

Behind the scenes
There is a real Lake Quannapowitt located in Wakefield, Massachusetts, a suburban town to the north of Boston. The lake is emptied by the Saugus River. The toxic waste dump echoes a real problem with pollution the lake has faced historically.