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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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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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8 l2 C% ]7 b* s A0 c6 Z. DThree of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.
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/ Y" i2 @: V& I0 SOne 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.4 g+ \+ r2 N. n' ^) G( v3 Y4 @
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The fourth was treated on scene and was to be released.! a; \5 R$ m9 O r6 r, k) p6 d
: }$ j1 d# y9 a! {0 j" J"All employees have been accounted for and are in secure locations," CNRL said in a written statement.
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. _. H( R: J. `# m) g5 K' _% fReports to the Sun about an explosion at the plant started coming in around 3:30 p.m.
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A witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."
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) I* A2 J! e8 U" a* @& ~5 {& o5 OAnd 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.1 R9 c$ `! a9 V( H9 s, U
) j. [6 \, S1 |1 ~& d6 rAlberta Environment was notified about the incident.* b% _6 o* q+ _1 _+ y9 a( n3 Q
# d( ], W4 H {/ D7 D5 cChris Bourdeau, spokesman with Alberta Environment, said the department is "in the information-gathering stage."* x; t; ~0 X4 H8 Q: P# E; w
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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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By 7 p.m., the fuel source of the fire had been isolated and the fire was contained to the coker area.% _; `1 @0 S2 f: g0 m
. [$ i. }7 [9 i+ }Air quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.8 q* n' G; o/ u: I
% z8 h$ _( G$ ?7 `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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6 e* K, Z8 {5 W! i u"Canadian Natural's first priority is the well-being of our personnel and to safely control the situation," said CNRL in a statement.' u" G& A3 p+ T' Q9 ^7 \
* ]1 T% T. n* c" Q/ \( D7 ~ ]The upgrader is located about 70 km north of Fort McMurray. No site evacuation was required.
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2 j" ~0 v R4 z" SHorizon 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.
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) L) X' X7 i; ^5 `; XA 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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2 W9 H/ w) P- Z$ \9 {8 DThe company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org.! C" `4 O: X. S: S0 Q+ u
$ Y+ [4 B# q/ G( o9 ECanadian 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.: D( }, j$ D; t% @2 }2 l9 s, W
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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.- a' x2 @2 }, b
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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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