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发表于 2011-1-16 13:02
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9 K V- L z6 P/ a$ HFour 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 ~5 Z, e7 L2 E0 PThree of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.
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One 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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/ i5 A) Z) i; B* IThe fourth was treated on scene and was to be released., H2 @6 n6 p/ h5 F7 p# o% w
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"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." ?% s) u5 I3 o! C6 D3 u3 Z
+ s7 c' {/ J. C$ aA 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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Alberta Environment was notified about the incident.* h' l5 V) I6 f
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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.
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Air quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.! k' w5 v7 g3 M4 v2 q& s2 V% V4 a
: P! s3 I/ q! [: g) iThe Calgary-based company said oil production has been suspended and there is no word as to when it will resume.
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! P+ f# c$ k& P" T"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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6 i$ a6 _& D( z. KThe upgrader is located about 70 km north of Fort McMurray. No site evacuation was required.& {0 p# N& x# F" ]
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Horizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.; S$ }) n$ ^! s3 r% L; W/ T
: n( z$ L" s( ?7 F! a# {! G5 M1 nIt 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. p8 {- b. a+ b) D& T. @( ~ v( H
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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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7 P# a" T( E2 v/ TThe 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.6 b6 {9 k6 U% ]+ Y2 P$ @
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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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/ Z# q5 ~3 S1 r! ^8 ~- cHorizon was built during the oilsands rush of the last decade at a cost of $9.7 billion. |
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