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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.5 {0 ]% U% S! a) K B/ v0 f
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Three of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.
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$ x3 q: _6 i9 ^8 L, oOne 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.; f) k- {* U, V' [7 t: }+ e; k& |
, X. ?" R: A8 a9 i9 w) OThe fourth was treated on scene and was to be released.) j7 Y& i) a Z5 F: R
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"All employees have been accounted for and are in secure locations," CNRL said in a written statement.& x. D& m6 N2 A0 ^& j1 ?% L6 d
2 s2 O- y6 G+ t3 Z/ M8 W1 mReports to the Sun about an explosion at the plant started coming in around 3:30 p.m.
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2 X6 T, J7 h3 f: M+ N7 XA witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."
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. e3 _2 o0 y' G7 _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.6 z& J+ t% A5 I
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Alberta Environment was notified about the incident.0 B( |; u9 X) }5 Z5 F
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Chris Bourdeau, spokesman with Alberta Environment, said the department is "in the information-gathering stage."
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1 U ]/ K: M7 N# v- i! N; y$ V MThe 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.( v E% c- [% {' N9 y) a
3 q2 S) r+ W+ ]+ S& u4 L; uAir quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.
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( P- i. z. Q7 IThe Calgary-based company said oil production has been suspended and there is no word as to when it will resume.( l/ W9 M9 c1 M( K4 Q! j
: c; R2 g3 _5 j"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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9 ^& E3 N+ e) ~: SThe upgrader is located about 70 km north of Fort McMurray. No site evacuation was required.7 [1 h G- R$ b4 Q2 y) w- R
/ [9 L7 a# K; G/ ?9 N: LHorizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.
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9 ]8 L; K8 }7 @+ r. j! H4 B/ ?It 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.
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. k9 @" z" B* p, {' }& p k# VThe 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.# m& G& t9 n# h9 a
# w% ?% h; u2 l, H; sHorizon was built during the oilsands rush of the last decade at a cost of $9.7 billion. |
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