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Not to mention the impacts on the people who live in the communities on the coast that these cables often land at. See what has happened with Facebook's new cab

by odensc 4y ago

Not to mention the impacts on the people who live in the communities on the coast that these cables often land at. See what has happened with Facebook's new cable in Oregon: https://oregoncoastalliance.org/facebook-proposes-undersea-cable-landing-in-tierra-del-mar/ https://oregoncoastalliance.org/facebook-proposes-undersea-c...

jonas21 4y ago
Sorry, what were the impacts other than a few weeks of construction noise? The cable is buried under the beach and the seafloor until you get half a mile offshore. According to the link, they left some drilling equipment 60 feet underground, and that's a "disaster"? This site seems to be dedicated to opposing any sort of development along the Oregon coast, so I guess it's not surprising they didn't like this.
Fomite 4y ago
"...and at least 6,500 gallons of drilling fluid" feels considerably more significant than the "drill bit" in another comment.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- kcb 4y ago
  That's like a small swimming pools worth of whatever it is. Feels pretty insignificant.
  - Gasp0de 4y ago
    If it's mineral oil based that would be enough to destroy a few ecosystems I think
    - albrewer 4y ago
      Didn't read the article but from what I understand drilling fluid for environmentally sensitive areas tends to be water with bentonite clay and a small amount of thickener like barium sulfate or calcium carbonate (i.e. seashells) in it.
    - jonas21 4y ago
      The independent analysis [1] concluded that "there are currently no adverse environmental, scenic, recreational, or economic impacts resulting from the drill break or presence of Remaining Materials 50 to 70 feet below the sea floor, nor is there a reasonably conceived scenario (e.g. earthquake, tsunami, long-term coastal erosion) that would expose the Remaining Materials to the surrounding environment and result in future impacts." The drilling fluid is in a borehole ~60 feet underground, and has hardened into a solid (as it's designed to do when not under the mechanical stress of drilling). It's mostly water and clay, with a few additives, all of which are below their ecotoxicity threshold concentrations, even at full concentration in the borehole. And if the drilling fluid ever entered the ocean (which it won't), it would be diluted such that "concentrations of the drilling mud additives and their chemical constituents would be orders of magnitude below ecotoxicity threshold concentrations (and therefore non-hazardous to natural resources) and undetectable". [1] https://oregoncoastalliance.org/documents_20/edge-cable/06_FacebookHazardsAnalysis_reTDMDrillAccidentSept2020.pdf https://oregoncoastalliance.org/documents_20/edge-cable/06_F...

by odensc 4y ago

jonas21 4y ago

Sorry, what were the impacts other than a few weeks of construction noise? The cable is buried under the beach and the seafloor until you get half a mile offshore. According to the link, they left some drilling equipment 60 feet underground, and that's a "disaster"? This site seems to be dedicated to opposing any sort of development along the Oregon coast, so I guess it's not surprising they didn't like this.

Fomite 4y ago

"...and at least 6,500 gallons of drilling fluid" feels considerably more significant than the "drill bit" in another comment.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
kcb 4y ago
That's like a small swimming pools worth of whatever it is. Feels pretty insignificant.
- Gasp0de 4y ago
  If it's mineral oil based that would be enough to destroy a few ecosystems I think
  - albrewer 4y ago
    Didn't read the article but from what I understand drilling fluid for environmentally sensitive areas tends to be water with bentonite clay and a small amount of thickener like barium sulfate or calcium carbonate (i.e. seashells) in it.
  - jonas21 4y ago
    The independent analysis [1] concluded that "there are currently no adverse environmental, scenic, recreational, or economic impacts resulting from the drill break or presence of Remaining Materials 50 to 70 feet below the sea floor, nor is there a reasonably conceived scenario (e.g. earthquake, tsunami, long-term coastal erosion) that would expose the Remaining Materials to the surrounding environment and result in future impacts." The drilling fluid is in a borehole ~60 feet underground, and has hardened into a solid (as it's designed to do when not under the mechanical stress of drilling). It's mostly water and clay, with a few additives, all of which are below their ecotoxicity threshold concentrations, even at full concentration in the borehole. And if the drilling fluid ever entered the ocean (which it won't), it would be diluted such that "concentrations of the drilling mud additives and their chemical constituents would be orders of magnitude below ecotoxicity threshold concentrations (and therefore non-hazardous to natural resources) and undetectable". [1] https://oregoncoastalliance.org/documents_20/edge-cable/06_FacebookHazardsAnalysis_reTDMDrillAccidentSept2020.pdf https://oregoncoastalliance.org/documents_20/edge-cable/06_F...