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发表于 2011-1-16 13:02
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c' m5 ]* S( @3 Q g/ GFour people were injured in a fire Thursday at the Canadian Natural Resources Limited Horizon oilsands site north of Fort McMurray./ f/ F5 j+ a# Q. p, m4 h; T
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Three of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.
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; g8 o. m2 b. w" y7 u+ l9 K! u. COne 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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The fourth was treated on scene and was to be released.
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"All employees have been accounted for and are in secure locations," CNRL said in a written statement., }' x( X' s& n/ F t- k
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Reports to the Sun about an explosion at the plant started coming in around 3:30 p.m.
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A witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."" N1 T1 e0 d' c2 i
- N$ q9 S1 m; M5 c1 i/ ]4 j; 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.7 Y7 E4 E7 D4 [; z' d
; d5 D/ u8 j9 l8 ?) I- l8 sAlberta 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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The 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.! [. q w9 m$ D/ @
6 V4 H b( D+ h- {. {# }, k5 K5 rAir quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.6 P. m0 w, n- n0 m- d0 ~% G! k
2 G3 b% r# ]( I7 Q4 v, L: kThe Calgary-based company said oil production has been suspended and there is no word as to when it will resume.
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( I3 L- i; l% e, P! e"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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8 U+ `1 Q2 e' x! ~! i) x YHorizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.8 D; v' s. N# ?* E; t8 r! _9 q$ G
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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.
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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.8 G8 R7 P1 _. Q6 x+ K
% H& d, m# D# E5 DCanadian 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.2 Z9 y) O/ G0 Y8 P I/ O+ i P
% H D& z1 T% n3 U7 ?7 a- J9 HHorizon was built during the oilsands rush of the last decade at a cost of $9.7 billion. |
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