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http://www.fortmcmurraytoday.com ... -and-pipeline-spill
h) a9 T7 Z7 \0 Z9 N5 [3 RNexen 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.& W( L% ^" U. m' ^
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The 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.! E; C& P7 L5 W
2 w$ T; i! K+ F Y( wThe 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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: I) k; F5 m! @! e( p& }An internal investigation found the explosion was a result of work being performed that was "outside of the scope of approved work activities."
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, M$ L4 i2 V' U4 U. qThe 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. 5 G0 z& `9 {+ w
$ F# c1 Q0 @) N& n0 r, ]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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) h0 o U( p1 sThe 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. ) Y9 m& j, F2 Y1 v! V# D
; d. D, H9 |' }7 d( xThe 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.
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- I$ f' b) ?& m4 O6 h0 w$ XNexen 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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This 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. 9 I. d6 y0 f- j
. H5 S( _0 `. w% Z' |The 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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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. 0 I- l2 x+ r; d, G* @( g- q! U
& M: n% k/ }5 S# U- with files from Vincent McDermott |
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