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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.
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6 S% l$ v$ \" e' jThree of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.' y6 U9 B$ |( m1 F' ]+ ~
5 A. `" E3 C' r1 |/ j3 c" Q/ TOne 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.+ X C& T8 Y7 l! _' ^
, H9 c% O- h- Y9 vThe fourth was treated on scene and was to be released./ O7 k4 w1 q5 V/ M; k! c1 p
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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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% _; D: H% K! g; ]0 s' `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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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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4 i6 I9 W1 M U- u" [2 D5 y7 AAlberta Environment was notified about the incident.2 h, @; m9 m1 E
0 c. o" @* W6 v' L7 `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.% a2 Y* S/ z: U" d
! y. q) `% c& J# Y) I9 F& y iBy 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.( A5 `, U, r& Z3 t. \5 P; v
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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.
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/ X% k! B: X5 v, j1 V9 U" x/ Y# mThe upgrader is located about 70 km north of Fort McMurray. No site evacuation was required.
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3 Y; ~, B5 P" `# t5 yHorizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.3 {$ b% q6 A" b6 m4 Q" ^
5 ]% C# b+ o4 ?, UIt 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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8 g) q0 u( ~' A7 G0 v& JThe company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org.- F# p# H/ g9 M* Z! A, ^. T: \
5 d* }( Z3 K) b# F5 N) ]: yCanadian 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.1 F- ]( w% {1 y3 G; N
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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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* H, a7 D) c/ ]" O- R7 hHorizon was built during the oilsands rush of the last decade at a cost of $9.7 billion. |
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