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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.
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4 v0 x4 U* i1 }7 o9 ~Three of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition. ]* J7 N- |0 _9 E& Z
" x+ M3 g/ C+ C1 A3 NOne 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.! \' y$ U8 `+ T* }/ `
* J" P; Z8 s: }5 W6 RThe 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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Reports to the Sun about an explosion at the plant started coming in around 3:30 p.m.: H3 ?$ B7 d$ u9 S* B% Q% W6 U
& R% k/ _1 H% h" d: p0 C% kA witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."8 G/ K3 s: r; |# l* l8 `' m
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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.3 {" ?8 W! o2 M6 d" S
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Alberta Environment was notified about the incident.
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/ a) E2 W; B4 MChris Bourdeau, spokesman with Alberta Environment, said the department is "in the information-gathering stage."
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, ?. b6 z! Z/ T V* U# m: t/ JThe fire was located in the upgrader, which converts bitumen into synthetic crude, and the plant was shut down.# p, v; J0 m5 j8 D8 b/ a$ J
9 \. A4 v* {5 H: |By 7 p.m., the fuel source of the fire had been isolated and the fire was contained to the coker area.: j; |" K1 \5 x2 |
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Air quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.* ?" C" L( |+ s: C, F8 s
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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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"Canadian Natural's first priority is the well-being of our personnel and to safely control the situation," said CNRL in a statement.! u5 ]! ]8 N+ P+ N* l6 q. s) B
1 G! q# f5 G: Y1 v% P) P5 H L7 ZThe upgrader is located about 70 km north of Fort McMurray. No site evacuation was required.
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Horizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.( Q7 @2 G3 k0 j/ a1 K5 z; ?
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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.
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& p( H4 n* b9 S9 T" AA spokeswoman for Alberta's Employment and Immigration department said its officers were on their way to the site to conduct investigation." }9 E; S+ B) Z! Z9 N
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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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1 a k4 g i& H' G% s1 _# B2 GCanadian 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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9 ^/ T8 ]8 S* H* zFires 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.5 |) p" Q* o4 B, j6 X$ o9 P
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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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