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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.$ [, `, a; u; l! @; p9 ]: Z$ _0 ?
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Three of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.; P, Q; B4 m z1 W4 V8 H
. [% U- ]; t& C/ x8 ?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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3 A2 j# Q9 F: e" {5 C! o; MThe fourth was treated on scene and was to be released. J+ M9 j z, C; g1 V$ E
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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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1 \1 z% B& k# P1 ~7 S; [) C. gReports to the Sun about an explosion at the plant started coming in around 3:30 p.m.
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( \7 C( t1 b1 |A witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."
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6 n3 {; r6 p. R' [' 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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/ X' X, d: e% P) MAlberta Environment was notified about the incident. P3 S" b- x$ Z( @
6 J; s ^2 b) e- y: K* B7 DChris Bourdeau, spokesman with Alberta Environment, said the department is "in the information-gathering stage."
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5 j3 k" T, |% ]The fire was located in the upgrader, which converts bitumen into synthetic crude, and the plant was shut down.; I# ~- y! I7 g% x3 x
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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., \8 }* z: J! `8 _
- F9 l; m2 q+ f; ~- U/ t- hAir 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.9 w2 k$ k0 O- `9 c( a( b0 j
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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.0 ]1 Z% d: \- u% Y" E( `; l
, ]9 J! Z: m; i! S( k8 WThe upgrader is located about 70 km north of Fort McMurray. No site evacuation was required.$ l4 u- D; a. u3 [+ g
8 t4 K) j+ ]) P% mHorizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.! }9 t0 Y+ ^& o, B, u. i4 _- r, v w* W
7 R. x; N: X8 [7 V! MIt 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.* [ S/ `2 Z! Z7 D5 H
! Q8 I( J7 o, D) d. F/ rA 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.
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; C( a- X( x, s+ yCanadian 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.- h4 m4 T2 P6 _* A$ S7 m ^7 g
. U* O8 l O# g% _( NFires 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.2 R5 w9 K# [6 H# |
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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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