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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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Four people were injured in a fire Thursday at the Canadian Natural Resources Limited Horizon oilsands site north of Fort McMurray.# z' e4 m ~0 t& l* [! z0 n# o
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Three of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition. K6 m* {7 k8 J5 e |
$ D k+ o' ^' f1 s$ U, 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.
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+ f. X! y/ W6 [6 `; z$ }9 PThe fourth was treated on scene and was to be released.! j, w$ a# U. T9 D) s7 d
0 }3 a2 a) J& M2 ^"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.' y: n5 A* z4 W0 F `
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A witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."
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' e* [) }! y' g. f `8 OAnd 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.5 @. _% G, Y2 J! h; ], E; S+ J+ K4 y- F/ I
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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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|1 Y" O" d, J" e6 tThe fire was located in the upgrader, which converts bitumen into synthetic crude, and the plant was shut down.$ P) U8 \$ Z4 c( b7 E8 h
, k) C2 c8 ~; v* G2 I* _1 A# bBy 7 p.m., the fuel source of the fire had been isolated and the fire was contained to the coker area.+ H' Z c5 G7 K* ~4 x5 y
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Air quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.
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# b, @, C) v9 n' y) Z/ @0 U' N' \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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. m2 b% O. m" P% B; }"Canadian Natural's first priority is the well-being of our personnel and to safely control the situation," said CNRL in a statement.( T0 @9 K: v& R6 j* H3 Y7 i
1 x/ ` p& A" Y% z* FThe 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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S" y6 T) Q% Q2 }, q) TIt 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.5 s" _' z9 X2 Q
# U) `- n# i& p7 o9 uThe company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org.+ w+ \( z: ?' i6 \1 q" `5 o, f
6 P+ W, }! p* lCanadian 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.5 f: S! y% H9 T7 |/ d1 D! l
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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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0 R- b0 a# q/ p* \+ WHorizon was built during the oilsands rush of the last decade at a cost of $9.7 billion. |
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