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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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! k9 s3 x+ R4 `Three of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.
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* W- e9 X+ [- ^" qOne 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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The fourth was treated on scene and was to be released.4 K' k+ h* q* O r7 V
4 D6 v' {6 [" C" R( C; D"All employees have been accounted for and are in secure locations," CNRL said in a written statement.
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. g2 J% ~0 @3 Q# F" gReports 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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" \$ g6 q2 {, W( g+ ~4 z/ S' LAnd 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." U$ p) W- Q6 _
' e, Y; a. e& K/ A7 I9 q6 S7 lAlberta Environment was notified about the incident.
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Chris Bourdeau, spokesman with Alberta Environment, said the department is "in the information-gathering stage."& w0 @1 \# T7 Q. L* F5 m
" i) V" j9 Q0 {7 W/ i- {7 jThe 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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3 h" G; H, E# ?4 _* w- h8 PAir quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.+ p. R. I4 v3 w7 D+ c: U0 x& K# ?9 Z
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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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"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.
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Horizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.9 J6 @8 \5 b* c9 C( \; g0 r' w% {" E
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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.. _! M4 Y3 J2 E0 L/ ^5 s5 ^
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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.
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6 ~* p/ h3 P! w& [$ y6 Z$ K& tThe company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org.
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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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( ?: X1 \# l6 |" M1 ]& dFires 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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