Contractor injured performing maintenance at Syncrude oilsands site

A man has been injured at an oilsands facility in northern Alberta.

Syncrude spokesman Will Gibson said a contractor was performing routine maintenance early Thursday at the Mildred Lake upgrader complex near Fort McMurray when there was "an incident."

Gibson said he didn't know what happened or the type of maintenance the contractor was doing.

He said Syncrude has suspended certain maintenance activities while it investigates.

• Fire, explosion atSyncrudeplant north of FortMcMurray
• Crude shipments resume fromSyncrude'sMildred Lake facility

Gibson said the contractor was taken to the Northern Lights Regional Health Centre in Fort McMurray before being transferred to hospital in Edmonton.

He said he didn't know the nature of the man's injuries, and that a provincial occupational health and safety investigator was at the site.

Another worker suffered serious injuries in aMarch 14 explosion and fire at the Mildred Lake upgrader. The incident was caused by a mechanical failure. A line failure caused treated naphtha a highly flammable hydrocarbon mixture to leak,which burned for nearly two days before it was extinguished.

The Mildred Lakeupgraderis located 40 kilometres north of FortMcMurray.