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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.
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# G* J9 v7 V' H. ]Three of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.5 z* O1 D9 b4 N$ ?' o
2 f" Y8 z+ G* F3 W# ]7 M( \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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- d& u6 ?6 O0 D3 {! k# n# UThe 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.9 h* @8 A, Q& t6 O" }4 P2 @) W
3 n; Q! u& x y. H: h; ~. [Reports 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." ?; n1 P) {$ v0 \
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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.
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Alberta Environment was notified about the incident.! r; I/ R+ q8 \) o
: H' K; S/ X. n6 uChris Bourdeau, spokesman with Alberta Environment, said the department is "in the information-gathering stage."
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The fire was located in the upgrader, which converts bitumen into synthetic crude, and the plant was shut down.
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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.# n. B5 G% P% b
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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.' Q$ `1 H4 O7 U% k0 F
& J' Y; W7 n- J; D8 C2 o"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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The upgrader is located about 70 km north of Fort McMurray. No site evacuation was required.' R: { q: _0 H8 _$ Z
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Horizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.
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% |" Z! J; J0 D4 e- [0 q OIt 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.( J% E( U, q3 \0 [0 P( k6 W; H
: ]* Q s6 ~. JA spokeswoman for Alberta's Employment and Immigration department said its officers were on their way to the site to conduct investigation.5 i1 Z0 R: H3 n- c
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The company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org.$ c' x& `# G3 x( x) f$ S5 @3 A' K
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Canadian 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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D0 i" G. P. p) RFires 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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1 o& W' G2 L U7 qHorizon was built during the oilsands rush of the last decade at a cost of $9.7 billion. |
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