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发表于 2011-1-16 13:02
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% Y# X, F8 ]3 ~. OFour 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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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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% R$ t( \! t7 ]9 H: }3 W: qThe fourth was treated on scene and was to be released.. C* Z$ @ d. c1 e
* G2 J# h' m& N- H) P3 f"All employees have been accounted for and are in secure locations," CNRL said in a written statement.* w; R! p$ Q- [- U/ q+ q! b. v! i1 n
( c' ]5 V q P3 Q& a) f: m/ L6 XReports to the Sun about an explosion at the plant started coming in around 3:30 p.m.3 b8 u% Z1 ]/ H! I R5 `
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A witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."0 A) j- W% L3 v' R6 b2 B& H$ U. {
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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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Chris Bourdeau, spokesman with Alberta Environment, said the department is "in the information-gathering stage.") C7 s. M- C+ M
( Y8 Z) C6 l o6 O# G3 t/ A1 ?* hThe fire was located in the upgrader, which converts bitumen into synthetic crude, and the plant was shut down.7 Y0 H) o5 @: s2 \2 }4 `$ `
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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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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.; g+ E7 N# N8 J$ R: m( Z- Q& p
- y' C' C# [8 O: j- z' _+ _"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.( G$ O% Q9 k+ X9 B% C
0 E- B! w; U, k4 W3 P5 ZHorizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.
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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.% e5 N7 z; q: ~, p1 G! |
% h u. H2 v4 w1 R( e4 U$ x5 NA spokeswoman for Alberta's Employment and Immigration department said its officers were on their way to the site to conduct investigation.! ]5 \4 v3 K! w% d8 a$ ~- \5 ?' K
0 D5 n+ ^6 ]1 W5 K7 u3 IThe company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org.
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" j2 ?% Y4 N* @1 L9 o0 M; l$ DCanadian 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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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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) i# p, h. {/ B$ b' IHorizon was built during the oilsands rush of the last decade at a cost of $9.7 billion. |
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