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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.0 U: i7 y+ B2 D/ j+ x/ |: j" w+ b6 Z% h
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Three of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.
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& i- x- M* M0 q& M+ w; n- S' aOne 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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6 n7 _6 k2 p4 L% Q" C) vThe fourth was treated on scene and was to be released.
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6 C. u/ ]6 c: I* P+ p7 K& X* q"All employees have been accounted for and are in secure locations," CNRL said in a written statement.
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7 W3 o4 j( ]6 o% qReports to the Sun about an explosion at the plant started coming in around 3:30 p.m.2 ]9 }; x' x5 `% F$ \
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A witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."
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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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* M" {/ G! @* J2 A' _$ hAlberta 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."% R/ a: o& q) T) e) P$ r* N
' ?! H% O& g+ o0 r1 DThe fire was located in the upgrader, which converts bitumen into synthetic crude, and the plant was shut down.
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! {7 }3 S% V+ D/ s( |1 n. \9 FBy 7 p.m., the fuel source of the fire had been isolated and the fire was contained to the coker area.+ f2 c$ x: ] r {8 @
2 j! j$ k1 I3 f, O* }Air quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.
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9 w7 ?" |" K4 B8 y1 I7 G4 M7 DThe Calgary-based company said oil production has been suspended and there is no word as to when it will resume.
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# [3 ?% G* ^1 u" B+ J. R"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.* Q1 c b1 s# e( {- |2 |( |5 F
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Horizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.
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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., P9 {$ s" X6 y1 Q7 D/ |+ f
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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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The company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org." o1 y/ v& O& _+ i
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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.* }2 s' j5 z$ `& f( ^0 k+ l: m& b$ {
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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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