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发表于 2011-1-16 13:02
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, @3 l& f. ], s- ?; vFour people were injured in a fire Thursday at the Canadian Natural Resources Limited Horizon oilsands site north of Fort McMurray.
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& E0 r% x! a. \9 A6 xThree of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.
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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.3 Y' J0 a. v" f* H O+ z6 v ?
- a' Y4 Y+ v1 ~5 @' \ t& dThe fourth was treated on scene and was to be released.
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" C0 ~: L1 o7 r2 P/ p"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.
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1 b1 d' U; p/ \% kA 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.
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Alberta Environment was notified about the incident.
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- W( M" x8 Z: T- q* x1 x+ }Chris Bourdeau, spokesman with Alberta Environment, said the department is "in the information-gathering stage."; U. `9 f# f2 m* x5 n
( r7 W# X& o! h% k- J8 cThe 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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" B1 k0 z8 c4 N2 |Air quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.
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% K( R( z) x4 D2 y" u8 KThe Calgary-based company said oil production has been suspended and there is no word as to when it will resume.+ U) V. f, r( e1 J/ ~5 p
+ U% v3 R1 E& ` 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.8 p% _4 ^- \& | @2 ]$ B# \
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Horizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.
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+ Z; Q. X0 l! y' d% o: y4 C. vIt 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.7 _" D# d2 ` S& d* Y0 @
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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.5 I9 x- Z1 |8 z( c8 N" l" ^' U
) D, v8 L3 `- q' h9 \The company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org.
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6 K% N" T9 |9 VCanadian 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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# D! R* s: g" _/ ]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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