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发表于 2011-1-16 13:02
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; o( r* o, V$ d% \5 \2 JFour people were injured in a fire Thursday at the Canadian Natural Resources Limited Horizon oilsands site north of Fort McMurray.0 |# w$ A' L$ J' Y g2 W# u
0 ]3 n% D; u1 t5 m: G# T6 N; eThree of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.
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& {* y' m3 ?7 I5 P1 K+ y- {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.
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' o& c# O, ~- G- c7 b) C0 UThe fourth was treated on scene and was to be released.) ^* x/ J. z+ Q5 g# }2 m' v
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"All employees have been accounted for and are in secure locations," CNRL said in a written statement.6 X. y" A3 j' b, C
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Reports to the Sun about an explosion at the plant started coming in around 3:30 p.m.1 ?2 ~1 ^' U2 [; x0 ^
$ E. V3 C7 m) z6 q+ pA witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."! a! {1 K7 N& C7 c5 p
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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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The fire was located in the upgrader, which converts bitumen into synthetic crude, and the plant was shut down." U v, z" I5 i; ~( T
7 ]* a; `6 w/ l7 i9 K' ABy 7 p.m., the fuel source of the fire had been isolated and the fire was contained to the coker area.6 N1 x8 N) m. }
4 y1 ~! t; {5 t/ f! YAir quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.
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& T' [1 y4 E' p' FThe Calgary-based company said oil production has been suspended and there is no word as to when it will resume.
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"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.% O o1 w% c1 ^! U
: @5 [% K9 D5 C) Z* R, HHorizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.! Y& q# M$ W8 ]4 [# M" }* H$ A. R
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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.
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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.
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% N' m# n! }9 {; E" V, @+ g; z: WCanadian 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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- N5 p o: m# C" lFires 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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K, J$ |3 I: Y. ^ GHorizon was built during the oilsands rush of the last decade at a cost of $9.7 billion. |
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