The Alberta Tar Sands are a
The Alberta Tar Sands are a surface or near surface field that is thick tar that is accessible from the surface from anyone with a big enough shovel. Hydraulic Fracturing involves creating fractures many thousands of feet under ground. Not the same thing.
The problems with the Tar sands are the waste of energy required to heat up and extract the Oil. Also I wouldn't argue that it is environmentally insensitive. With very few exceptions Hydraulic Fracturing is completely safe, with thousands of wells drilled every year and less than a handful of problems over the last 5 years.