One person is dead and another remains in the burn unit at an Edmonton hospital following an explosion at the Nexen Long Lake plant near Fort McMurray.
“Yesterday marked one of the darkest days in Nexen’s history,” said Fang Zhi, CEO of Nexen, at a media conference in Calgary on Saturday.
"Our thoughts are with the families."
The explosion happened at 3:20 p.m. Friday in the compressor building, which is part of the hydrocracker unit said Ron Bailey, the senior vice-president of Canadian operations.
Bailey said the two people impacted were maintenance workers and he confirmed regular maintenance was occurring at the compressor building when the explosion happened.
Nexen was unable to provide details on specifically what the workers were doing; however, Alberta Occupational Health and Safety tells CTV News the workers were changing valves on a compressor at the time of the explosion.
OHS investigators remain on scene.
“Over the course of that investigation they process the scene, interview witnesses, review documentation and basically try to understand what caused the incident to happen,” said Pam Sharpe, OHS spokesperson.
The facility was shut down immediately following the incident and personnel in Long Lake, Calgary, and Beijing activated the company's emergency response plan.
Bailey said an internal investigation is already underway.
"Having a fatality, or someone seriously injured, is our worst nightmare," said Bailey. "This will leave a terrible mark on all of us at Nexen."
The injured worker was brought to a hospital in Edmonton for treatment of severe burns.
In July, about five million litres of oil spilled from the same facility, which was one of the largest spills in Alberta’s history. The company said Friday’s explosion is in no way connected.
