Facebook stirs anger, abandons drilling gear on Oregon coast

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.

Tierra del Mar, 65 miles 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.

Construction of the cable landing site was supposed to have been done in just a few weeks and completed by the end of April.

Meanwhile, a lot the size of 10 tennis courts has been stripped of its trees, grasses and other vegetation and is now covered with gravel and concrete.

Lynnae Ruttledge, a retiree with a vacation home in Tierra del Mar, was one of the community organizers opposing the cable landing site.

The state Land Use Board of Appeals is also considering an appeal, filed before the drilling accident, to rescind approval of the project.