Impacts of Human Technology in Oil Sands Development on Alberta's Boreal Forest

After watching the movie in class what are your reactions to the type of technology that is used to extract bitumen from the oil sands in Alberta and the effect this has on the boreal ecosystem? Please provide a brief summary of the technology that is used along with a description of what bitumen is. Please also include one or two effects the technological change has on the boreal ecosystem. The posts are not meant to be extensive answers. Rather I am looking that you understand the key aspects of the technological extraction in the Alberta oils sands and how this impacts the boreal ecosystem.