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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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Four people were injured in a fire Thursday at the Canadian Natural Resources Limited Horizon oilsands site north of Fort McMurray.! S1 E$ R" H+ t( O
4 e5 g1 s7 r: x: W0 w; \+ p- P/ BThree of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.5 S6 X# U, h/ g1 Q
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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.( W2 d5 r+ a7 r r5 ~; {4 K
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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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$ w$ b2 s% Z& C6 u l# \Reports to the Sun about an explosion at the plant started coming in around 3:30 p.m.
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" }$ A) V( b' A. o5 g! B z" MA witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary.", M H+ A6 K: _: `6 {
) l3 Y# _$ W6 `4 f. dAnd 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. K1 R8 H0 a) k0 }6 e6 }
& ]1 W2 {( J; J/ zAlberta 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."4 K' p! x, o- s8 G0 o; X
/ A# l& N1 d# J% L. AThe 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., S" {5 L* v3 D1 _: u
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Air quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.
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The Calgary-based company said oil production has been suspended and there is no word as to when it will resume.& C, ^. e- b5 G, |
3 ~& a& m0 C& A) I/ f1 P"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.* t l% ?7 v- O1 ]; v* Q
9 N7 J2 V! l: f7 i IHorizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.
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, j, J+ N# q+ Y% qIt 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.- `8 N8 O- j1 U
5 T& ^4 o; u+ bA 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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2 h7 X" C" }8 EThe company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org.9 Y2 ?$ L! G4 U' o3 U9 A( i! l
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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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2 y* V& p B, |5 ?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.. ~- ?4 b# g# n2 W' k' C7 s" t0 [
! K7 |( N5 \8 b+ UHorizon was built during the oilsands rush of the last decade at a cost of $9.7 billion. |
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