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发表于 2011-1-16 13:02
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2# 爱城四少
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0 R9 `' Z0 x5 ]* |4 A7 U) UFour people were injured in a fire Thursday at the Canadian Natural Resources Limited Horizon oilsands site north of Fort McMurray.
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Three of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.
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, P1 m1 Q$ n5 n7 V% XOne 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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- w+ ^, Q: D& I# |% m+ Z+ [9 @1 IThe fourth was treated on scene and was to be released.: b/ W8 |9 H$ W# Y' d0 S
6 }" J( ] G2 O s"All employees have been accounted for and are in secure locations," CNRL said in a written statement./ C) p. K) e3 O" T) x, ]% ?
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Reports to the Sun about an explosion at the plant started coming in around 3:30 p.m.7 e* ^& K( D" l4 M, O" `. J
; ?; V7 e- U2 d5 U1 dA witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."
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" r+ E! H# k/ CAnd 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. q/ J2 C, Q0 H! J/ u
- n8 M' K% p5 z. e6 K( gChris Bourdeau, spokesman with Alberta Environment, said the department is "in the information-gathering stage."- f: e3 \& q( e1 d4 d1 @
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The fire was located in the upgrader, which converts bitumen into synthetic crude, and the plant was shut down.
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6 f' ^( j0 \/ Y/ N" X* { X1 `' GBy 7 p.m., the fuel source of the fire had been isolated and the fire was contained to the coker area.
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/ k+ w5 Z8 t1 ?6 X5 U( Z, iAir 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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$ {" r% t R( P) _/ t"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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* w3 t1 p. f5 k/ P, B& ] w' @The upgrader is located about 70 km north of Fort McMurray. No site evacuation was required.
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Horizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.
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$ x* e( F$ i3 c8 `) {* Q2 yIt 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.. h0 r% W$ B# H, ?
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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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. w/ k( G9 i9 Z% j+ V r) D7 HThe 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.
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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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