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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.. `6 f' o5 P) X3 v9 y
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Three of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.
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! J3 V8 h4 a mOne 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. r: |+ ?* ~( x4 _7 d
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The fourth was treated on scene and was to be released.8 S9 I! B/ q6 f
# c& T0 _; ?% v4 @"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./ j/ \. ?: G; N6 U* B
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A witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."
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, Z. h, `& S2 n" pAnd 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.' x$ [" c3 e4 g/ U5 x
% i2 t3 R& B$ I' ]2 k* }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.": A( P5 |6 {& y( H( n/ z" X" S
' j1 l: R5 S2 T! W; Z3 aThe fire was located in the upgrader, which converts bitumen into synthetic crude, and the plant was shut down.8 C8 J: h/ \! D' z
! W( w! j, m6 aBy 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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# ?% {) @* u, \* ]Air quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.+ c% B5 p2 ^- q* |3 f+ S, S2 Q4 w* w
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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.9 B) k# T- l8 B! c# N
$ m4 L3 v0 I6 L3 a% A' \7 e6 b! k; k"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.
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% R6 o6 W6 W8 J8 F8 p$ a3 P# I5 wIt 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.) X9 d" a1 \* x( |5 t
5 r0 _- l( [1 [, Q: v( n* k8 K6 WA spokeswoman for Alberta's Employment and Immigration department said its officers were on their way to the site to conduct investigation.9 {6 K G2 ~3 t: s' q
; `6 [0 N' M' U- n4 EThe company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org./ f, Y0 s) w! i- x& O4 r
+ y! b, c* S: U; ]' }* WCanadian 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.
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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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