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http://www.fortmcmurraytoday.com ... -and-pipeline-spill
* `0 f8 i F7 a/ SNexen Energy will lay off about 350 workers from its Long Lake facility, following its release of results of internal investigations into a July 2015 pipeline spill and the January 2016 hydrocracker explosion.
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/ _/ g' l' J* C2 l2 ~) oThe CNOOC-owned energy company will only be continuing its steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) operations at Long Lake, after it determined a short-term repair was not possible for the hydrocracker unit, which killed two employees when it exploded on Jan. 15, 2016.% X) J* u5 x3 c4 e
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The facility's upgrader has been idling since then, and will be moved into winter preservation, with no estimation of when it will be brought back into service.
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% [$ Y+ N6 u! g- i6 vAn internal investigation found the explosion was a result of work being performed that was "outside of the scope of approved work activities."5 q) }3 T4 q$ e3 Z% G4 O
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The two employees killed, both Fort McMurray residents, were 52-year-old Drew Foster and 30-year-old Dave Williams. Foster was killed in the explosion. Williams, who was flown to the University of Alberta Hospital's burn unit hours after the explosion, died a week later.
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In its announcement Nexen said it is addressing safety gaps in part with refresher training on workplace hazard identification, increased site supervision and safety inspections.
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The decision to move to a SAGD-only operation was described as "entirely economic," and will result in about 350 staff layoffs, most of which will be completed by the end of 2016.
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The results of the investigations were given at a news conference on Tuesday by Nexen CEO Fang Zhi and Senior Vice President of Canadian Operation Ron Bailey.% [' l2 ]7 T( j5 u
0 Z, k; y! F6 Y+ K) Y+ MNexen also said it found the root cause of a July 2015 emulsion spill at Long Lake to be a "thermally-driven upheaval buckling of the pipeline, and the subsequent cooldown during the turnaround."
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) b2 }3 z9 B+ [; T7 M% wThis was caused because of pipeline design incompatible with the muskeg ground conditions, and steps that could have been taken to mitigate the potential for buckling were not addressed. 4 B1 M9 ?2 s! i* O: Q# o
% P Z' _$ O$ K: z; E4 u0 T" wThe spill poured up to five million litres of emulsion - a mixture of water, bitumen and sand - into surrounding muskeg. The spill may have been ongoing for up to two weeks when it was discovered in July 2015 by a contractor walking through the area.
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" F; o/ {" ^- Y& K, ]& @In August the Alberta Energy Regulator ordered Nexen to shut down 95 pipelines until the company could prove the pipelines could be operated responsibly. The suspension was lifted in September 2015. 8 G' S/ x) [5 O! D) z( S% _& V
, a5 Z% U; C& a) ~, i2 m' a- with files from Vincent McDermott |
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