[MsDemeanor]

Miss Scarlett, a lot of the crap BP has been pulling is to avoid fines and royalties. EPA fines are levied per barrel, so the more barrels documented, the higher the fine. Oil companies also pay the government for each barrel, so BP owes the US $ for all that oil in the water. This is why they've been using the dispersants, to break up the oil so that it can't be counted. Also why they've been underestimating the flow, refused to put cameras on the leak for the first few days, burning oil, etc. Using ships that collect the oil means that there's a count of # of barrels.

Another issue, strangely, is that there are clean water standards for water that is returned to the ocean. Now normally, this makes sense; you tell an industry that "the water must be this clean after you use it and dump it back in the ocean". In the case of oil, though, any clean is better than it was. Still, there are hoops that must be jumped and agreements that must be made before something like A Whale can be used. Mostly, though, it's just BP being supreme asshats who's priority is the $ and not the mess.