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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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# R! g! i" L# L9 U& A( R, v$ U: \5 xFour people were injured in a fire Thursday at the Canadian Natural Resources Limited Horizon oilsands site north of Fort McMurray.$ F) M. W- ~6 t* P7 k. u
7 s- }5 H+ W8 JThree of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.& d0 C7 Y7 S0 h& v6 n* _2 @
9 ^% ^* _7 P! ^/ X3 d% n# Q$ vOne 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.. f6 c4 U% ]; ]8 m* \5 |
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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.
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; C2 S1 j! i; W6 NReports to the Sun about an explosion at the plant started coming in around 3:30 p.m.+ n& U2 M/ J C6 z* W
7 P4 v6 f& t( C% VA witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."' A0 W: F% a3 }! U8 p9 O9 G- k6 ]
& ~; t3 ?/ x3 r" p: v( |5 QAnd 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. _$ b7 i2 f6 |" b1 d: J
% [+ e. H. I# b+ R5 sChris 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.% x$ M; c5 [% q' g& N
% C) K9 V8 J0 r/ c; ^& u! X- lAir quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.
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- h, U( o5 n. F4 K0 U: g! I9 BThe Calgary-based company said oil production has been suspended and there is no word as to when it will resume.3 S! v- X. f/ z+ {* m9 u' D
- _: J& a9 X I, S ^"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.1 K8 O2 W1 m P
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Horizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.; A' c2 U0 {* L+ ?3 S: R6 l! {
" ?1 i! `4 X& a1 oIt 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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, ~3 X; u% ]8 d! ^* e' S# @8 m! IA 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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; b7 d2 L6 `2 M3 s. @The company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org.
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( M+ P: y! [( T5 w/ {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.
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* U$ ]/ c C2 o8 C/ L' @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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' u% }; r C% T) p8 Y! OHorizon was built during the oilsands rush of the last decade at a cost of $9.7 billion. |
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