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The Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals today affirmed a January decision by the Tillamook County Board of Commissioners to grant a subsidiary of Facebook a conditional use permit that will allow the social media company to land a trans-Pacific cable in the middle of the unincorporated coastal community of Tierra del Mar.
Following receipt of that permit, Facebook's contractor began drilling from a vacant lot in Tierra del Mar under the beach to a spot about a half-mile offshore.
The plan was to punch a hole in the sea bottom and connect to the cable. But in late April, the drill bit broke and the company abandoned it, leaving 1,100 feet of drill pipe, 6,500 gallons of drilling lubricant, and equipment 50 feet under the seafloor.
That failure enraged Tierra del Mar residents, who hoped that LUBA would agree with their contention, made in concert with the Oregon Coast Alliance, an environmental group, that Tillamook County had erred in granting Facebook's subsidiary, Edge Cable Holdings LLC, a conditional use permit.
But LUBA ruled today that Tillamook County got it right. That decision left residents disappointed.
"Sadly," says Lynnae Ruttledge, one of the neighbors who led opposition to the project, "there is no justice for Tierra del Mar today."
Residents may now take their case to the Oregon Court of Appeals but have not yet decided whether to do so.
