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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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+ l$ o* ?6 E! m, h! sFour people were injured in a fire Thursday at the Canadian Natural Resources Limited Horizon oilsands site north of Fort McMurray.
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Three 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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0 z' y/ M: w c0 }: Z* j( |The fourth was treated on scene and was to be released.
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5 E) i$ o+ R6 f0 n4 \; [5 T7 A! H! K"All employees have been accounted for and are in secure locations," CNRL said in a written statement.
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) K- S( d7 \" A6 l; `Reports to the Sun about an explosion at the plant started coming in around 3:30 p.m.9 d- ]! n$ k6 k; F9 x+ ]+ w: w6 G W
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A witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."
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" d7 M+ @- O. i# X- TAnd 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.! F$ F, E4 v3 B+ {1 W% U
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Alberta Environment was notified about the incident.% I* x" I2 j4 C
. n& e0 H+ J+ `( L6 ?Chris Bourdeau, spokesman with Alberta Environment, said the department is "in the information-gathering stage."
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$ i0 C' m& }" IThe 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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$ E7 P8 ^7 E4 }: ?* a+ a; T& w' U. ~Air quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.
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. d* C/ a/ g) q+ T$ V" \0 TThe Calgary-based company said oil production has been suspended and there is no word as to when it will resume.
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9 b- e2 D/ r4 i! o+ k6 }"Canadian Natural's first priority is the well-being of our personnel and to safely control the situation," said CNRL in a statement.; J5 `) |& ^- {
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The upgrader is located about 70 km north of Fort McMurray. No site evacuation was required.- m* ]) @* ^, F* p; G3 d1 |3 H
. y* P5 ^( q0 S1 WHorizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.3 Z, S8 C% ?& T2 f E
+ n2 K2 ~6 ^% \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.1 ]. s1 Y. ~, _ `/ o0 } Z
2 t( J# F9 P1 f" [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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/ S. M" R7 D* v8 s" r& w; D! U# BThe company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org.
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1 H, }" \4 w1 V5 U3 N/ r8 UCanadian 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.( s; Q) u/ e8 }- _( H
4 B8 S$ n4 r0 \" GFires 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.- r$ q8 `$ _ Z
+ e' {/ Q2 z! a9 C2 uHorizon was built during the oilsands rush of the last decade at a cost of $9.7 billion. |
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