Doubtless it's not consumable salt, either.
The other concern you bring up that worries me is the general sense that before the oil sands projects were developed, there were inadequate studies of groundwater. Right now, because the economic climate is in pause mode for new developments, this may be an opportunity to take a look at studying groundwater before giving the thumbs-up to any more projects.
What kind of study, what kinds of resources, and what kind of timelines would be required to adequately study this before starting up new projects?