Playing the Oil Spill With Clean Harbors (CLH)

With nearly 200,000 barrels of crude oil leaking into the Gulf daily from the Deepwater Horizon, much of the focus has been towards BP BP and the other operators of the drilling rig. However, investors may want to steer their focus towards the companies that will be in charge of the clean-up. In only what could be described as the worst environmental oil disaster since the Exxon Valdez, Clean Harbors CLH may be the best way to play the spill. As the leading environmental decontamination and hazmat company in North America, Clean Harbors has worked on some high profile cases before. This includes toxic mold evacuation efforts following Hurricane Katrina. The company has already moved 700 employees into the region to begin vacuuming oil before it hits coastal marshes. As the disaster hit, Clean Harbors' stock shot up nearly 27 percent, but has retreated along with the rest of the market. Analysts predict that the disaster could cost BP as much as $15 billion in cleanup expenses and investors could use the recent market slowdown to add Clean Harbors to their portfolios. Another choice may be the Market Vectors Environmental Services ETF EVX