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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.
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5 s& f2 { N0 u/ c* H' I( ^Three of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.! a- z- O/ _1 v* X6 t' @
- U8 h* x$ Q7 h W/ s0 w6 TOne 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.% W9 D' y! A) G9 k" k
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The fourth was treated on scene and was to be released.
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% v, }& H2 V3 x4 }"All employees have been accounted for and are in secure locations," CNRL said in a written statement.! v. U. X$ o' _$ B3 K. A
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Reports to the Sun about an explosion at the plant started coming in around 3:30 p.m., [: Q5 p( D3 e' K% W" F: d4 E% A7 W
& m& W, F+ X3 `: @2 I4 j- ~7 gA witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary.". [5 G" u7 z6 u3 B! r! a9 a- V
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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.. ~. a/ c! B3 z4 l# v U. _7 r# @
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Chris Bourdeau, spokesman with Alberta Environment, said the department is "in the information-gathering stage."4 ]/ L- N7 b7 D# e& B1 G
/ Z/ T" g$ `2 q# _2 w) x, ?The fire was located in the upgrader, which converts bitumen into synthetic crude, and the plant was shut down.
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) O2 [/ \% g& z: 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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Air quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.5 g$ T) i4 K4 Z: {( D
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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./ H8 {, }1 i8 y; g0 g8 T4 {
8 C Q1 a( G4 @. U/ n8 n"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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The 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.: \) n0 A) {, x" h2 Q% L3 ?* G
1 v/ d7 c* n; B1 b n) F. D1 }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.2 ?, W4 T/ z* W" T* S2 Z
& ]# K, a% `; I: F* p$ RA spokeswoman for Alberta's Employment and Immigration department said its officers were on their way to the site to conduct investigation.# O" A1 ? i" B( l/ O4 ~7 s) w k* h, {
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The company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org.% z1 R+ w! s% K$ I; ~' C
9 ^& m) f/ h9 d: f1 h$ c0 |) 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.! o# y' \1 @/ p, R) `- X l
8 T0 U( u* N" S6 g2 H! V7 n4 L& wFires 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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. Y$ r3 B) O; zHorizon was built during the oilsands rush of the last decade at a cost of $9.7 billion. |
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