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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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9 H: H3 o% w8 T7 L* S6 f4 }3 K6 CFour people were injured in a fire Thursday at the Canadian Natural Resources Limited Horizon oilsands site north of Fort McMurray.* E1 h9 L0 n( p6 N9 t+ h) |0 R0 p
# u ]1 R7 m( i- `0 P! tThree of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.
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1 C& P$ m1 a2 C# `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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. s9 _8 w$ c1 \3 o: j" h/ iThe fourth was treated on scene and was to be released.2 D+ a! @6 O1 @1 k; t, i' H( G
( q7 m& q" k d& w7 v" U9 l"All employees have been accounted for and are in secure locations," CNRL said in a written statement.# j$ t! w6 v3 U6 v) z" M1 j
: Y5 C9 c& t/ X# n i1 A1 hReports 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."7 R- I$ f" D+ i8 c x4 G: Q; t
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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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+ B# V1 j1 A" V1 HAlberta Environment was notified about the incident.. Y9 {3 g: u" _0 }" U. l
: }9 W1 ^# c3 [+ c! Q9 kChris Bourdeau, spokesman with Alberta Environment, said the department is "in the information-gathering stage."8 L4 B1 L; l+ C$ W- s
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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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9 V R# b4 u& q2 e4 ~7 X1 RBy 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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, o8 n8 P% Y) OAir quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.
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: V3 y+ t8 [, I, L, X0 y# h- [The Calgary-based company said oil production has been suspended and there is no word as to when it will resume.$ g# O8 M0 r3 X+ s! U, S
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"Canadian Natural's first priority is the well-being of our personnel and to safely control the situation," said CNRL in a statement.' j. ?# [0 `$ S3 y& G% X
% t$ ^2 W) r# T1 N$ J/ T: A" ~The upgrader is located about 70 km north of Fort McMurray. No site evacuation was required.
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8 p6 k8 E. V$ Z5 h/ [) G7 JHorizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands. V: c' n' q* d3 ?; U" w7 A/ N
9 `/ p0 J$ {! C6 K: {" {, xIt 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.+ [# }. v, y3 P8 ]' V4 ^) Z
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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.
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) M' f8 O' }5 o2 D: ^' mFires 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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