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发表于 2011-1-16 13:02
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" X& Q1 X9 W3 }Four people were injured in a fire Thursday at the Canadian Natural Resources Limited Horizon oilsands site north of Fort McMurray.
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3 Y& b/ ~' `# G. dThree of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.
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One worker was being treated for second and third-degree burns, the most serious types. A second suffered first-degree burns, and a third person had a neck injury., K7 ^% Y1 V/ m" @! a; ~
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The fourth was treated on scene and was to be released.
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9 ?& W x* R- | j5 b3 j8 ~/ u# ]: S- U"All employees have been accounted for and are in secure locations," CNRL said in a written statement.6 C* A$ X- Z: G; Y. O$ l- J' M
1 P0 p: [2 z( o! RReports to the Sun about an explosion at the plant started coming in around 3:30 p.m.
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+ k3 I+ r. `' O3 [5 w. TA witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."% z7 S/ n' v$ _; `0 l& @
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And a man whose wife works at the plant was concerned for her safety. "It is a ball of fire," said the man, who would not be named.
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Alberta Environment was notified about the incident.
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Chris Bourdeau, spokesman with Alberta Environment, said the department is "in the information-gathering stage."
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2 T- k2 g2 i0 L- u. TThe fire was located in the upgrader, which converts bitumen into synthetic crude, and the plant was shut down.
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By 7 p.m., the fuel source of the fire had been isolated and the fire was contained to the coker area.7 Y1 j3 t, U N R' q' w
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Air quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.
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The Calgary-based company said oil production has been suspended and there is no word as to when it will resume.
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' h4 t/ D9 I5 K+ @& }4 H"Canadian Natural's first priority is the well-being of our personnel and to safely control the situation," said CNRL in a statement.
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The upgrader is located about 70 km north of Fort McMurray. No site evacuation was required. V) U7 X% s$ l# G; f9 {0 p* h. H
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Horizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.
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2 X; n: ~; H2 n+ n7 K; b( H+ {It is impossible to gauge the impact on the company -- or how the incident might affect multibillion-dollar expansion plans for Horizon -- until the extent of the damage is known, said Michael Dunn, an analyst with FirstEnergy Capital Corp.! K" [ U) `4 J/ u7 F
$ _5 t; O+ W7 {; G; ]A spokeswoman for Alberta's Employment and Immigration department said its officers were on their way to the site to conduct investigation.
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The company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org./ a( x. Q, N2 ~6 O5 ?
. G' ^" c }" r4 W; i/ U! c" jCanadian Natural, Canada's No. 1 independent oil producer, said earlier Thursday that Horizon's output averaged 83,700 barrels per day in December, down 22% from November, as it shut down the upgrader's coker unit for repairs. The company said it had restarted the unit.
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Fires in the complex upgraders have been relatively frequent. Production at Suncor Energy Inc.'s oilsands project was hobbled when a fire broke out at one of its two upgraders in December 2009. A second unit was damaged in another blaze last February.
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2 g9 r: ~5 u7 \8 m# ^$ Q6 U, dHorizon was built during the oilsands rush of the last decade at a cost of $9.7 billion. |
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