In the Athabasca sands there are very large amounts of bitumen covered by little overburden, making surface mining the most efficient method of extracting it. The overburden consists of water-laden muskeg (peat bog) overtop of clay and barren sand.
Does oil sands development contribute to polycyclic aromatic compounds to the Athabasca River?
"Oil sands development contributes polycyclic aromatic compounds to the Athabasca River and its tributarie". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 106 (52): 22346¨C22351. Bibcode: 2009PNAS..10622346K. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0912050106. PMC 2789758. PMID 19995964.
Can oil sands be exported?
The excess oil production from the oil sands could be exported. The major importing country would probably continue to be the United States, although before the developments in 2014, there was increasing demand for oil, particularly heavy oil, from Asian countries such as China and India.