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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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6 \! P6 j. k) i. e+ W& bFour people were injured in a fire Thursday at the Canadian Natural Resources Limited Horizon oilsands site north of Fort McMurray.
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6 w) C/ Z$ r/ b/ V v8 k! P5 [; a4 x0 sThree of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.
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0 R) w4 U* M3 }- |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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The fourth was treated on scene and was to be released.9 I ]' H/ J9 S( G& L8 Z* K2 l) J
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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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A witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."
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1 ^0 B# Y N- D$ i' o& M. M7 l1 fAnd 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.6 B* _: \0 d% X$ \; X ^+ z
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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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9 A% }" U$ C4 O0 R# w0 y6 kThe fire was located in the upgrader, which converts bitumen into synthetic crude, and the plant was shut down.
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% K& t& }) w6 R: y( J3 XBy 7 p.m., the fuel source of the fire had been isolated and the fire was contained to the coker area.% R4 p& \1 R" G& l
: G2 Z6 {0 ]: b1 b" q6 @$ YAir quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.
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' s3 u1 b+ `6 I' ^# ^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.9 ~; U" o+ N, F
* m$ W; i3 ~5 @( r: T YThe upgrader is located about 70 km north of Fort McMurray. No site evacuation was required.
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0 `. e8 ?* k2 b OHorizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.* r. ~( L6 S7 f7 k7 L
1 i4 G$ z' |( t2 dIt 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.0 ]7 c0 M9 G6 N, U3 x, Q, G
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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.) y8 {( T9 c- Y, x. |1 z
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The company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org.; b; G: A1 ], o
! m. `' T+ ^: B3 U! @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.3 S' J. }6 S$ ]# y, e% K. s" k
1 u: D$ r* m( f4 Z3 pFires 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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