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发表于 2011-1-16 13:02
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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.: @# f. l6 b* T& h1 l
4 ?8 _$ K/ d8 r( [% MThree 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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The fourth was treated on scene and was to be released.
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& j( ?+ d- M& |% ?3 t$ z. L L"All employees have been accounted for and are in secure locations," CNRL said in a written statement.
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2 d7 M% U* l) V/ X1 wReports to the Sun about an explosion at the plant started coming in around 3:30 p.m.. @, y3 u1 ^8 W" _
- z1 V* k7 M3 U8 r; MA 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.+ o Y6 i4 h) y W; B( V
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Alberta Environment was notified about the incident.' @! M2 W$ }: O" t0 Y: c& k
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Chris Bourdeau, spokesman with Alberta Environment, said the department is "in the information-gathering stage."3 L5 p- _3 A* L+ P5 z& k
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The fire was located in the upgrader, which converts bitumen into synthetic crude, and the plant was shut down." ?' s2 |: l$ j. R* T/ W
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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.
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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.
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6 q5 |) E$ m. {4 Z"Canadian Natural's first priority is the well-being of our personnel and to safely control the situation," said CNRL in a statement.4 X4 E7 k2 @1 ~
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The upgrader is located about 70 km north of Fort McMurray. No site evacuation was required.7 N6 Z* Z+ Y! A1 n% J1 w
9 o- o9 \2 Q& |* k4 y# jHorizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.0 P; o) b- c6 g5 H
^$ ]! s# {5 AIt 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.. ]4 c% r7 n: t
, q* k! ]! h5 ?/ m9 w' PThe company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org.$ ]0 ^2 Z# I" P- V
- ^8 ~$ n" `1 @ {$ VCanadian 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.8 p9 ]* F/ y. G! |9 K3 l
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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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; }% u; a# [1 o# B* z/ `/ FHorizon was built during the oilsands rush of the last decade at a cost of $9.7 billion. |
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