Sunnyside mayor left with mixed feelings as Hebron tow set for weekend

Standing on the shores of Sunnyside, Robert Snook is soaking up the last glimpses of bustling oil business in the small and historic Trinity Bay cove.

For six years now, residents of the community at the tip of Bull Arm have seen a massive oil production platform take shape, and have worked it into their everyday lives.

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At night, the clanging of heavy machinery and booming voices on the rig's intercom would stir the townspeople from their sleep.

In the morning Snook, the mayor of Sunnyside, would relish the view from his waterfront home.

Now each day he expects to lose that view. The Hebron platform, built by ExxonMobil, has been ready for tow-out since early May.

"Every night the lights are lit up," said Snook. "And, well, I guess the lights are soon going to be turned out."

Move expected on Saturday

After almost a month of delays because of thick ice, the concrete and steel monolith will have to wait for one more day before heading out to sea.

Eight tow vessels, nearly as wide as they are long, are hitched on to the platform, idled as they wait to tow it out of Bull Arm.

Once through the narrows and into Trinity Bay, the platform will navigate heaps of sea ice packed in by southward currents from Baffin Bay.

The ice has hampered the tow-out of the platform, which was delayed again on Friday.

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For Snook, the departure of Hebron will bring a mixture of emotions.

"Some people will probably be glad to see it go," he said. [It will] give them back their harbour so they can come and go as they like in their boats and they can fish in places they can't fish now."

Quiet expected for years, mayor says

They'll also get their peace and quiet back.

Bull Arm, a 16-kilometre stretch of water inwards from Trinity Bay, has been the site of four large projects.

The first was Hibernia, which got underway in 1990, establishing infrastructure equipped to handle massive undertakings.

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That project spanned eight years, followed by Terra Nova, a floating platform more than 300 metres long and a peak workforce of 1,600 people.

In 2005, an offshore semi-submersible rig, the Henry Goodrich, was refitted at Bull Arm.

In 2011, work began on the Hebron platform and brought a better deal for Sunnyside than any project before it, the mayor said.

"This one has been a more positive one, from my perspective anyway ... We've done well."

The town has benefited from annual payments from ExxonMobil — $225,000 in lieu of taxes each year. It has tucked the money away in a legacy fund for a future project, which has yet to be decided upon.

Gazing out at the ships in the distance, Snook admires the massive concrete structure.

"This is the second one I've watched go out," he said. "I waited 20 years for this one to go out. I think, 'Will I see another one?' And I'm doubtful I will."