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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., {9 a* q3 t- @5 t6 v
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Three of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.; ?* J9 J9 g! y1 r+ T
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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.3 N3 K3 `( t# ^* ?% n( I6 G
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"All employees have been accounted for and are in secure locations," CNRL said in a written statement., Y5 q1 f* H& s- x- H' f
# C6 B: l5 Z9 ]* v8 d, Q; Q# l8 bReports to the Sun about an explosion at the plant started coming in around 3:30 p.m.
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/ C6 q: Q7 a$ s5 l8 B5 m: C7 rA witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."
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4 L6 D E3 R7 \- {. m3 jAnd 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." E5 k' J2 H0 V! E
4 h* m1 `3 f# o0 g: `Alberta Environment was notified about the incident." r/ |7 X( L, C; O
" e2 `# b. R0 z5 M/ L L V Y$ YChris Bourdeau, spokesman with Alberta Environment, said the department is "in the information-gathering stage."9 e: v2 L* j% x! m. v$ R
8 m# Q# W& H; {+ H) C l: s! i6 fThe 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.+ }' j4 {+ o& `' a' L7 h
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Air quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.1 s; n/ A2 M( j3 b
- h" A x5 w" _# \7 wThe Calgary-based company said oil production has been suspended and there is no word as to when it will resume.5 P1 A$ [% `3 i$ M( J- E
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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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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.
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0 X9 x# m* T6 {8 _; r0 T2 y J: }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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The company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org.- i% n( |1 v% R) G
* m& f. {9 Z# zCanadian 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.5 u" Z! `6 p* ]* O, H. A& [
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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.' d$ I2 S$ H0 I* y! w6 j' _
, [% g) ^# k3 D/ AHorizon was built during the oilsands rush of the last decade at a cost of $9.7 billion. |
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