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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.: P/ B v9 a5 W/ t! c4 {5 M1 M
' g- S0 [2 _) I% O# g) I8 ?6 {- jThree of the four injured were transported to hospital in Fort McMurray in stable condition.
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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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6 v- j" ]$ S% A/ Z( FThe 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.% u" f$ G! W4 ^. [6 J
$ N9 |' z w' a! Z* A$ N& C0 k: _9 s7 ] NA witness who wished to remain anonymous described the scene as "scary."$ u. l- H9 l7 u! j% S
: m3 {/ N+ h p1 k% O$ k6 YAnd 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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6 r- x; I& I: GAlberta 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."% H4 h% x& i0 i F
7 Z |8 h3 q, K2 ~: c" G6 m- m8 cThe fire was located in the upgrader, which converts bitumen into synthetic crude, and the plant was shut down.
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# {- w2 F- U: U2 w- {7 {4 R0 cBy 7 p.m., the fuel source of the fire had been isolated and the fire was contained to the coker area.0 b/ }7 G( l; b0 p1 z' b- b8 q
1 x/ _0 `' D& r5 xAir quality has been reported as good in the area as of 6 p.m. Thursday.0 b3 C; r# D) ]6 @" F J9 r
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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.
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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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3 X% ~6 o y& b; Q& dHorizon is the newest major mining operation in the oilsands.3 h# G; S/ w1 B+ j( E' U) K" V
/ u. q; _/ ?" A& w" b. A6 H6 C: lIt 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.
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" L: B- ~* P! W% 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.
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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.1 D. N6 D6 Y _4 W
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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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