
Facebook Abandoned Drilling Equipment Beneath the Ocean Floor - elsewhen
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/4ay5mj/facebook-abandoned-drilling-equipment-beneath-the-ocean-floor
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kd5bjo
> Earlier this year, its subcontractors began horizontally drilling, or
> fracking, a subsea borehole that would house the cable’s final stretch from
> sea to land.

Fracking is a process of pumping a fluid into a borehole to fracture
subsurface rock, thereby freeing up pathways for the petroleum in the rock to
make its way to the primary borehole to be pumped out of the ground. It has
nothing whatsoever to do with drilling a horizontal tunnel for an undersea
cable.

The only reason I can think of for including the aside is to bring anti-
fracking sentiment to an unrelated issue.

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genericone
Agreed, the whole article reeks of pseudo-moralism. They don't like it, and
they want other people to feel the same, even if they have to twist the
information.

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throwaway189262
Does this really matter at all? It sounds like this is construction equipment
and drilling mud which is mostly clay and chalk.

And it's 60 feet UNDER the ocean floor. Literally nobody will ever see it,
find it, or care that it's there.

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GenerocUsername
Not to mention any operation to recover it would likely cause more damage than
leaving it alone...

They should get a sizable fine to discourage such reckless ventures in the
future and lets leave it at that

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throwawaysea
Having discussed horizontal drilling with friends in the business, it is NOT
the same as fracking. Horizontal drilling is literally what it is named for.
You can use it to, for example, lay down utility piping at specific depths
without requiring an expensive and invasive excavation. It doesn’t involved
hydraulic fracturing, a newer technique, most of the time. This article seems
to mention fracking to leverage negative sentient against fracking to support
the story morally. I’m disappointed because Vice used to be so much better
than this in its earlier days.

