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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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Three of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.
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6 `- y' p( i' y9 U8 u- Y1 g% FOne 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., s+ N. m) y2 a7 d" y0 D% J" ]
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The 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.
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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 Y* a$ ?# `% [( m. [A 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.0 c5 b" T2 }) _) g2 J
% {9 [$ Q( N7 `- |Alberta Environment was notified about the incident.! _8 t- J; N4 Y
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Chris Bourdeau, spokesman with Alberta Environment, said the department is "in the information-gathering stage."
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' b c4 h8 Z k9 P& HThe 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.0 R8 z$ q4 ?0 c& R$ p/ r7 g
7 G/ R5 k6 y* @7 @Air quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.
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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.; F8 b' s5 n% f
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The upgrader is located about 70 km north of Fort McMurray. No site evacuation was required.8 R3 ]- R' ?8 U! i7 L
9 n% W. K" n7 I0 ]& rHorizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands./ c( o3 w/ O8 b) O7 ]$ m! ]* J
! B, S, Y) e" i% k" L5 E0 WIt 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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1 Z5 z, D( _. y+ k0 S7 AA spokeswoman for Alberta's Employment and Immigration department said its officers were on their way to the site to conduct investigation.) \5 B( k* c! v$ T" E
( X9 z7 K- i! p o% E3 q) p+ o% LThe 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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. T4 U1 B# ~. r X5 |$ u8 \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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