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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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2 D+ I7 B! i: 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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' T* N4 C: o8 P% M. A2 TThree of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.; u" v1 z; L$ S! b6 v+ [% E
7 {! E- D4 t* R9 M" c6 vOne 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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$ O( c& E" c# K( ~. XThe 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.' b" s1 L3 v- D) f3 q
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Reports to the Sun about an explosion at the plant started coming in around 3:30 p.m.4 `) Q; s* N8 h) O
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A witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."9 d$ V- m0 X& D8 g5 L
2 A4 v$ S S) LAnd 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.+ W8 D5 u# c" H9 I4 p- _
7 Y; \1 |0 S& } YAlberta Environment was notified about the incident.3 Z% H0 C0 b$ Y5 L$ C0 V
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Chris Bourdeau, spokesman with Alberta Environment, said the department is "in the information-gathering stage."! f; l z4 e0 u# n
$ ]7 t5 l1 D! G# ]: y$ r" ~0 gThe 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.; A& ^' X/ Y2 s1 K* b& f
. C/ T4 w( |0 l2 r- ^% _Air quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.( x4 c7 G6 m* x
2 V2 y, Y* n$ HThe 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.. r0 J2 `( s" F! q' C
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The upgrader is located about 70 km north of Fort McMurray. No site evacuation was required.
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Horizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.7 j% u# T% y" |7 ?+ v. e
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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.' P# ~5 x2 q5 Y+ h; m2 o
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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./ f& E, Q! Y2 [
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The company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org.
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5 n6 p" A) F3 U4 Y* vCanadian 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.% B' b& O! T7 G
! w0 p( G: C) k* j: K/ H! eFires 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.! e7 t' Y, {6 \. x, N
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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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