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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.3 [' z5 W6 u0 @' v i: A! V
% X/ ?2 l7 k9 K% z( o0 t0 ~Three of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.
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$ |4 v+ n% `. J! N8 S' E* VOne 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.$ `0 i, a9 v. m7 w' Y0 A* R m
" n0 ]; J7 u [; _5 X. p/ f" l4 LThe fourth was treated on scene and was to be released.
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3 O" P; U8 ^. J2 b"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.
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A witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."
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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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' {9 {" w$ A1 |( m4 tThe fire was located in the upgrader, which converts bitumen into synthetic crude, and the plant was shut down.: F9 u4 r# Y0 E# ]
3 D: W# P& e3 Q1 x* NBy 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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. p5 y4 S4 C0 B9 Z6 MAir 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.- Y) A3 A- P" k6 t+ `. U* h
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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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0 o( Q" }* a" HThe upgrader is located about 70 km north of Fort McMurray. No site evacuation was required.
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x9 u' t6 p3 K4 w9 p9 rHorizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.. \# F+ f9 {9 J6 r' I! K/ ]
: ?6 u/ {: u- g. _) `- F$ h7 x" CIt 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./ r6 q2 z( p+ R0 E7 P3 p4 A+ l$ n
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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.( D: B( X1 v- p
" n) Q, ?% d Y+ B( a) u( j9 ^The company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org.: v5 y" J& L9 K9 d" `5 y2 X
4 M+ t- B8 E7 E% eCanadian 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.+ c& ^; g1 o; X! y
; \4 G P( u+ C. {/ Y6 W8 z7 oFires 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.7 L* a( B/ u4 {8 R8 t) z
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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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