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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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# V' h ]8 ?" T, b) J+ QFour people were injured in a fire Thursday at the Canadian Natural Resources Limited Horizon oilsands site north of Fort McMurray.
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3 p4 z* B3 @3 D3 P% r' dThree of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.1 x* x, ^ n. Z6 {( {) I0 _
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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.4 n9 V9 L7 [; W! P$ E
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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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- x! M. q X% n+ a; q, \% oReports 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."
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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.8 b) J, V! R- @. ^" G+ R& x, b
- p7 {: s4 ?7 c9 s3 J! X0 iAlberta Environment was notified about the incident.
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, u% V6 u& y% |; I. Q; l6 |Chris Bourdeau, spokesman with Alberta Environment, said the department is "in the information-gathering stage.") t# s/ V/ B) [
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The fire was located in the upgrader, which converts bitumen into synthetic crude, and the plant was shut down.( I9 ?3 X( i4 S) C7 K
, \+ ], h1 g9 aBy 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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$ z5 v9 A5 X# l, OAir quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.+ G- v8 V: L* Q8 o" ^
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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 L n1 O: S' C) s: D) l"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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( \8 w6 p8 M s+ vThe upgrader is located about 70 km north of Fort McMurray. No site evacuation was required.4 m5 ?* ~) c8 P5 v6 ?( y6 B
- C6 s3 y; [+ l& W' c1 @Horizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.
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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.! J0 m% @9 o- z7 |+ `9 Q5 A
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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.( P1 \8 V" \; K# d; D7 w
$ |9 t% \$ h3 t1 N3 {4 {! t. j" T' NThe company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org.( s- D/ b" @" j: t! E9 F' {7 z0 h
' y- R0 o% x7 T$ jCanadian 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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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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Horizon was built during the oilsands rush of the last decade at a cost of $9.7 billion. |
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