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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.8 {( \# B: ^1 _ }8 @0 d
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Three of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.' V& u; n: A8 Z
" ^) i1 s0 b. I7 [' z. [( cOne 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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The fourth was treated on scene and was to be released.
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/ N* y, F. @( {2 W$ U' ^"All employees have been accounted for and are in secure locations," CNRL said in a written statement.8 K' B/ k, A3 b0 h; j
8 k+ F( ]# H( E" {+ p5 Q, fReports to the Sun about an explosion at the plant started coming in around 3:30 p.m.% p+ @8 q$ i1 F+ o& Z4 ]% I$ K
3 L3 Z' i8 s- L( A5 }! pA witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."$ Z0 T* M$ r' s9 `
% q( \0 W8 \6 A/ r1 A# a% Q! d" UAnd 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.8 }' l1 Q& D4 R. a
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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.
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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." P7 e& t- P/ r* j) ]
# B' y5 X% H% h# \: F& g4 @Air quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.
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2 U. c! b: A) }& V2 s! gThe 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.; I. C% O+ n9 U! ^
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The upgrader is located about 70 km north of Fort McMurray. No site evacuation was required.
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) Z, a1 \1 e" e: CHorizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.
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" H- |. J" W' iIt 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.- G' \% V1 U) ?5 O
5 y0 N( |& P' x; Y2 N+ H6 L/ cA 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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8 t& ?- B; R$ J7 ]2 gThe 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.' R; H- G0 l) G' u4 \0 ] I: L/ d
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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.+ R& n- K" b; [0 |
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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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