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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.7 ?$ B/ R }1 c- n
& r+ E3 D" u0 k$ A+ m& H6 ?& o* GThree 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.& J2 Z I7 Y8 ^4 z4 a0 ` Q, i+ ?
3 l2 n3 n$ L" `8 W% x* mThe fourth was treated on scene and was to be released.
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2 B; }+ e9 h+ ?, g) f" a6 Q9 C6 S( l"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.$ \( y2 J; u6 ?/ e! R$ i" T. c1 j
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A witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."
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* T& v, E) b" j5 gAnd 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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( h& G' _' I5 [- C- rAlberta Environment was notified about the incident.
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# @& g5 k G2 |8 s9 jChris Bourdeau, spokesman with Alberta Environment, said the department is "in the information-gathering stage.", Q5 [8 I% s" l) x1 u
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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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! |; Q, V/ O8 dBy 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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; [: n) X! p) JAir quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.) Y7 B& {8 p: o* X8 s
X& F2 y, _% t- j) D5 XThe 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.; E: E) c" \# S
) M0 y1 C3 ^# U% r! o. _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.
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3 |' O- n) u; w' Q. {5 wA spokeswoman for Alberta's Employment and Immigration department said its officers were on their way to the site to conduct investigation.( Y! Z7 }% A2 ]6 f% z" m
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The company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org.
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( T* G: K2 T8 X3 e$ ]# oCanadian 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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$ H. X ^) e/ ~$ JFires 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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