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发表于 2011-1-16 13:02
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. X; ]9 [ U6 u: jFour people were injured in a fire Thursday at the Canadian Natural Resources Limited Horizon oilsands site north of Fort McMurray.
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+ v0 a) G2 K9 S7 V: ZThree of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.1 o& G0 V$ A" W3 _9 H" }7 K5 c% Z
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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.! @. S$ S* o9 j3 Z5 W
, i* f- M# H6 F- R9 A0 RThe fourth was treated on scene and was to be released.
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7 H% x$ J- f* p/ }( \2 W. K1 P"All employees have been accounted for and are in secure locations," CNRL said in a written statement.
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4 E( r5 y) g& n' VReports to the Sun about an explosion at the plant started coming in around 3:30 p.m.. o+ J2 d! Z2 C. b# ]
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A witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."
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c' ]. N0 d1 g: MAnd 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.2 z ?& ^" y7 d
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Alberta Environment was notified about the incident.- V1 ^) k3 w: u7 F) K1 g0 S
8 e' `; x0 A* h% `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.
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. t+ e0 B) F8 z& W P- G3 @By 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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/ u/ i \1 t r7 V; v0 Q5 oAir 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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"Canadian Natural's first priority is the well-being of our personnel and to safely control the situation," said CNRL in a statement.0 d( D6 z `+ F+ u0 Q
0 c; e" W; P! B& C( q1 {, @The upgrader is located about 70 km north of Fort McMurray. No site evacuation was required.* K& C3 N* C9 _+ P; D
& _4 m4 g( Y6 qHorizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.& y/ k8 A$ q- F% Q& ]3 {8 P. u$ H
5 X/ d9 L+ ?0 Q# F* M. nIt 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.# k9 X6 _5 y) k! c! A5 W# ?
* ~) \! p) o# U( y7 u' wA spokeswoman for Alberta's Employment and Immigration department said its officers were on their way to the site to conduct investigation.7 f% b# p3 y' H
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The company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org.9 H2 z& m! ^; l" b/ W% s
- \0 d7 p/ M1 K' b! x- P0 U. a/ UCanadian 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.! H* I2 i+ x4 W9 s
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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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