Post by Admin on Aug 30, 2015 16:28:41 GMT
An explosion and fire early Saturday at Syncrude’s Mildred Lake base plant north of Fort McMurray is being investigated by the company and the Alberta Energy Regulator.
“Basically we responded to the site this morning after we’d receive notification that the Mildred Lake facility was going to be going to flare,” AER spokesman Ryan Bartlett said Saturday.
“Our staff did some further looking into it. There had been an explosion on-site.”
Syncrude spokesman Will Gibson described the incident as a fire at the Mildred Lake upgrading complex sometime before 8 a.m.
It was extinguished and no one was injured, Gibson said.
“We don’t know what caused it, we just know that a fire started,” he said. “We’re going to be deliberate and thorough in our investigation to find out what happened.”
Air and water quality were not affected and a “small part of our operations have been affected. We want to make sure that the scene is preserved. There is damage in that area,” Gibson said.
Early Saturday, the company restricted access to the site to Syncrude employees but contractors were allowed back on-site by the afternoon.
Staff from the AER are also at the facility to investigate, Bartlett said.
“Syncrude has provided us with (information) on the incident,” Barlett said.
He said Syncrude has told the AER that no products were released and no off-site odours have been detected.
