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发表于 2011-1-16 13:02
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5 p0 R; c+ |4 U* c# t& F8 RFour people were injured in a fire Thursday at the Canadian Natural Resources Limited Horizon oilsands site north of Fort McMurray.
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D1 }5 ]) b- F, TThree 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.
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3 m0 [9 b! s! N8 K8 f! O% F5 rThe 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.8 {$ A, q( V! J9 T, J
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Reports to the Sun about an explosion at the plant started coming in around 3:30 p.m.4 J' n& K: m4 ~, `' o* r
/ T$ R$ r" }7 ^4 E! r3 C8 i3 NA witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."7 C2 P$ \' l# `6 h: c' x
& o1 N8 Q$ ?1 Z% g, n, }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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Chris Bourdeau, spokesman with Alberta Environment, said the department is "in the information-gathering stage."
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6 x# g' T' U: lThe fire was located in the upgrader, which converts bitumen into synthetic crude, and the plant was shut down.& B# b4 D. D1 ~% D" ~# U p6 D
, H% [7 N6 M8 b/ cBy 7 p.m., the fuel source of the fire had been isolated and the fire was contained to the coker area.% Y- w( j! h3 Y8 g: v
( T& z4 q0 R* U3 oAir 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." \4 u' v1 m9 ?* W4 C1 r. p" M
* f- c* _ F: g: w"Canadian Natural's first priority is the well-being of our personnel and to safely control the situation," said CNRL in a statement.( e, [ V: g/ S6 Q
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The upgrader is located about 70 km north of Fort McMurray. No site evacuation was required.& U" _* D9 D9 h$ U3 [* a
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Horizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.
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) \* ~7 P/ m' Z# h2 D% b5 UIt 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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A spokeswoman for Alberta's Employment and Immigration department said its officers were on their way to the site to conduct investigation." g h7 i& g( s( }9 }. i7 b: q8 G
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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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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.0 b+ K* D4 C. b+ E" w
0 I( _) L9 y$ u/ | Y, XFires 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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