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发表于 2011-1-16 13:02
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Four people were injured in a fire Thursday at the Canadian Natural Resources Limited Horizon oilsands site north of Fort McMurray.: J1 _. V1 s* k" R
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Three of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.
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, u5 u6 g# s+ \# V2 SOne 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.. L! q) R4 a% v5 y8 y: D( r* b- M
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The fourth was treated on scene and was to be released.7 X/ M) o, T" D$ k
, [. y/ G) e/ q5 x) j r"All employees have been accounted for and are in secure locations," CNRL said in a written statement.
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Reports to the Sun about an explosion at the plant started coming in around 3:30 p.m.) m% a, I" `: [
3 [, B: E0 T q: W; L8 }9 e% _) \$ ^A witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."
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3 c# |+ G- s- q [: `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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( p9 k: d& O) ~7 L. NChris Bourdeau, spokesman with Alberta Environment, said the department is "in the information-gathering stage."
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/ ~/ R- I6 i; b; @8 `The fire was located in the upgrader, which converts bitumen into synthetic crude, and the plant was shut down., | e& Y% r& e& y; F4 f
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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.( A9 l; |, r' `* t% }; M% Y
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Air quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday." ^( |% `1 W( d+ ~# ^) }2 L$ Q' d
1 U! i+ w" @0 R3 J ~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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T0 t2 ~" O4 H/ i"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.: Z' P! a( J+ N) j2 d
, U: [, r. ]1 p; DHorizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.9 Y5 Z; ~9 c9 q( R l1 t3 O# `
g: o* h* |9 U T" k4 i) aIt 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.
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+ H8 w' O( {1 q# F6 c: n1 ]A spokeswoman for Alberta's Employment and Immigration department said its officers were on their way to the site to conduct investigation.) c7 Z* N" [& P% C1 f
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The company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org.
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Canadian 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.# j9 j9 s! X$ ~# r, ]
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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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Horizon was built during the oilsands rush of the last decade at a cost of $9.7 billion. |
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