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发表于 2011-1-16 13:02
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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.2 M2 r- e k& s' V# T7 L1 n
2 v3 n7 F0 I. q. DThree of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.0 g4 M8 R0 H7 c! n5 z& O+ u- D
6 e1 T5 S9 \2 N4 ?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 C; i3 i% T7 A4 \4 GThe 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.
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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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1 t+ v% ` m9 Y8 z& V( `+ f/ TA witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."& j8 s0 K3 [* P
9 [, ~, M0 x4 J' J8 K/ M$ Y# ~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./ {, E g3 Y% Q
8 @ C- q: {" v2 C% ?6 L' pAlberta Environment was notified about the incident.3 H! N9 Z6 U8 E" W- V7 E3 k
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Chris 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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By 7 p.m., the fuel source of the fire had been isolated and the fire was contained to the coker area.# ?1 a+ U6 {: \! L
; Q% p% t& d( z6 t4 U/ M" M+ z1 }Air quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.
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* S7 O9 g M' f" ?) \/ H: s SThe Calgary-based company said oil production has been suspended and there is no word as to when it will resume.$ a( {& T& M2 E5 J, p9 Y8 P; _
& V5 B+ O2 k3 q: Y+ \( y- W"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.! M/ {$ D5 x; o$ N" L0 Z) o) L+ D: F# h
1 A+ c2 d" a6 h& {$ F5 _. ]Horizon 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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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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7 M+ D! I: I; J; t8 r1 j ZThe company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org.
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" D) w5 \7 w, 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.
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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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Horizon was built during the oilsands rush of the last decade at a cost of $9.7 billion. |
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