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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.
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Three of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.$ ~, U/ r+ `; n, C+ a
6 p, e1 R b( T/ JOne 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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* f$ [5 F3 P* v6 |/ dThe fourth was treated on scene and was to be released.
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: {4 o: D1 D. I7 U"All employees have been accounted for and are in secure locations," CNRL said in a written statement.) D# H% [4 s% F
! z5 A: v3 i( T2 {; @! ?. {+ B$ dReports to the Sun about an explosion at the plant started coming in around 3:30 p.m.9 W' G& ?$ w/ c% z& I
1 ^# h# M7 P+ m: R5 ?1 hA witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."7 R* ]0 g6 v3 i
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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.1 j2 [9 L6 R; c1 X0 E p) e' a
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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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: d, @( W9 Q6 j5 b' cThe fire was located in the upgrader, which converts bitumen into synthetic crude, and the plant was shut down.
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- D& |4 O& N" a$ t9 dBy 7 p.m., the fuel source of the fire had been isolated and the fire was contained to the coker area.1 l6 L- N! H* |* a8 M
9 Z0 W( |% H& ]! B' UAir quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.
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2 L* ~! Z; p2 Q/ ^1 m9 ?8 B4 zThe Calgary-based company said oil production has been suspended and there is no word as to when it will resume.6 I$ J; f+ |9 o# u' a+ k/ I0 }
! P$ ]3 l7 {! \5 C"Canadian Natural's first priority is the well-being of our personnel and to safely control the situation," said CNRL in a statement.: x9 S7 ?" Q; V
( h: Q2 I6 b$ C" n t. D0 uThe upgrader is located about 70 km north of Fort McMurray. No site evacuation was required.
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) w, X- z2 O) ?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.( q; A: x' E# @2 g6 S
. Q" C8 @" s* uA spokeswoman for Alberta's Employment and Immigration department said its officers were on their way to the site to conduct investigation.& K7 L4 c" I* W7 M0 ~! L
& P" w% X* m, O8 FThe company said air monitoring stations in the area are being checked, with updates available at www.wbea.org.
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- T! y4 ]+ f, q( l h9 `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.
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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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