Facebook stirs anger, abandons drilling gear on Oregon coast

TIERRA DEL MAR, Ore. (AP) — Facebook's effort to build a landing site in a village on the Oregon coast for a fiber optic cable linking Asia and North America has run into serious trouble.

First, a drill pipe snapped under the seabed. Workers left 1,100 feet of pipe, 6,500 gallons of drilling fluid, a drill tip and other materials under the seabed as they closed down the site, aiming to try again next year.

And then the Facebook subsidiary waited seven weeks before telling state officials about the abandoned equipment, according to the Oregon Department of State Lands.

Homeowners in Tierra del Mar, which has around 200 houses, no stoplights or cellphone service, had opposed the project from the start, pointing out that it's zoned residential and that having a cable landing site threatened the character of their community and could invite similar projects.

Now they are furious, and political leaders are too.

Tierra del Mar, 65 miles (105 kilometers) southwest of Portland, is home to a mix of professionals and retirees who share a love of the unspoiled beach that is fringed with coastal fir trees and the deer, eagles and other birds that inhabit the area.

Facebook representatives had said Tierra del Mar was one of the few places on the U.S. West Coast suitable for the ultra-high-speed cable. It is to link multiple U.S. locations, including Facebook’s huge data center in the central Oregon town of Prineville, with Japan and the Philippines, and help meet an increasing demand for internet services worldwide, the company says.

Construction of the cable landing site was supposed to have been done in just a few weeks and completed by the end of April. Instead, the drilling will resume again in January — as long as the state doesn't revoke the permit. Neighbors said the...