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发表于 2011-1-16 13:02
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2# 爱城四少
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; y4 ~- F) r+ O$ TFour people were injured in a fire Thursday at the Canadian Natural Resources Limited Horizon oilsands site north of Fort McMurray.
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# f# \; |8 s6 A6 sThree of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition./ L0 i# a6 e7 `5 I5 e
. C, ~! A6 v& v% \5 \4 MOne 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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" |0 K$ d3 B- OThe fourth was treated on scene and was to be released.; K8 p: f( ]+ c6 w, Y
; D5 |" G% ~& R"All employees have been accounted for and are in secure locations," CNRL said in a written statement.
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}4 b, {8 h8 U! E7 bReports to the Sun about an explosion at the plant started coming in around 3:30 p.m. H0 {3 w1 Y7 _) T. D8 r% G0 f* R
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A witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."0 E+ @$ Y E0 l' A
0 B& T4 g% m1 F; SAnd 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.. Y2 i5 e; N9 f! Z' u9 g- D
/ S6 N3 o e0 B4 n" nChris Bourdeau, spokesman with Alberta Environment, said the department is "in the information-gathering stage."
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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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/ H7 w+ M& l; l+ SBy 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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: J8 L" o/ T0 ^" F% L9 p0 G5 C/ w7 JThe Calgary-based company said oil production has been suspended and there is no word as to when it will resume.8 M* _/ N8 D2 {
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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.% s u6 L$ i; W+ h2 a
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The upgrader is located about 70 km north of Fort McMurray. No site evacuation was required.8 r. x L% e3 Y4 q' @, X: q
+ {" O% E5 J, c" l! B3 M& ~& R) }Horizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.
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- S. Y. G/ W Q! h& ^" B+ |/ ]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.6 e, l: v8 d" x/ X( ?4 s9 x4 Y
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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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The company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org." l% t. i9 M @* d% C. H
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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. h! \; d ]- k) ^- i5 @4 l/ R# x
# i! }$ j+ r6 f; _ _0 ^ bFires 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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6 ^0 i* K) i5 }: d6 tHorizon was built during the oilsands rush of the last decade at a cost of $9.7 billion. |
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