But even as the oil film grows in the gulf there is one other oil spill that most probably never denote as being a spill at all. And yet every day thousands of people set out to clean it up and assure that reclamation of the oil is in the highest regard. I am talking about the Fort McMurray oil sands projects. Oil has bubbled up in the sands and requires cleaning, and essentially that is the process adopted to separate the sand from the oil. Trucks are laded with dirty sand, and taken to a giant washing machine where the oil is washed out and the sand is returned to the pit. Certainly a much safer and more friendly alternative to processing oil.

But more so I think with the spill in the Gulf that legislation will come into play after the damage has been tallied to force drilling of this kind to stop. I think pressures will be such that more incentives will be placed on alternative fuels, and the primary oil suppler to the US will be just over the boarder to the north. Maybe this is a risky statement but in terms of safe viable solutions to energy, the oil sands demonstrates that it can compete and that the process is much safer than drilling holes into high pressure deposits. I think that much like the re-assessment of safety concerns on the part of Nasa after Challenger and Columbia so will such deliberations take affect within the US oil industry. And less dangerous means will come to light as being favorable. Now granted fort Mc is not without it’s challenges, there are still implications to address with respect to the tailings ponds and reclamation of water for the process. But I believe once oil sands becomes the only option on the table these concerns will be worked out quickly.