If any laws were broken in the human-caused disaster now swamping the Gulf of Mexico, then

something is wrong with the humans who caused it. If such a thing can happen without breaking

any laws, then something is wrong with the law.

The explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform &#8212 which killed 11 workers

&#8212 is called an accident. And that is true, in the sense that nobody associated with well

owner BP, rig operator Transocean or drilling contractor Halliburton could possibly have

wanted it to happen.

But it certainly should not have required the perfect clarity of hindsight to have known

all along that the standards of care and level of oversight involved in the drilling of this

well were far short of what should have been expected.

There clearly is plenty of blame to go around, not only among the three corporations

involved but also the various federal agencies, under both the Bush and Obama administrations.

The federal Minerals Management Service had long ago been shown to be a captive regulator,

more concerned with pleasing the industry it was supposed to be overseeing than with

protecting either the environment or the interests of the taxpayer. Even after an inspector

general&#8217s report outlined shocking (and, OK, titillating) details of sex, drugs and

pay-to-play during the Bush years, the Obamanauts waited until after the Deepwater Horizon

blast to get serious about reform in that area.

And now, an administration that wanted us to believe that government was good for something

remains at the mercy of the very corporations that caused this mess for the hardware and

know-how to stop it.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced that he would be investigating BP and company, even

as Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen has to stand by and watch BP make another stab at cauterizing

the wound. It&#8217s too much like the police detective who has to trust the suspected serial

killer to lead him to the bodies. In fact, it&#8217s worse, because more bodies keep turning

up.

The well is so deep, in an environment that few engineers have any knowledge of, that some

have suggested the job ought to be turned over to James Cameron, the filmmaker responsible for

&#8220Titanic&#8221 and &#8220Avatar.&#8221 Cameron was also the creator of a lesser-known but

more relevant adventure flick called &#8220The Abyss,&#8221 in which the heroes who work on

underwater drilling rigs prevail only with the intervention of a race of deep-water beings

who, so far, have not presented their credentials to the Coast Guard.

The latest word is that the saw-and-cover plan that replaced the top-kill approach, even if

it works, won&#8217t really stop the spill until August at the earliest. Some experts say it

could be Christmas before that happens.

And did we mention that hurricane season opened Tuesday?

If BP and its partners dodged the responsibility to install state-of-the-art blow-out

prevention equipment, of the kind required in Norwegian and Brazilian waters, or failed to

have the equipment to drill a relief well on stand-by, as Canadian rules mandate, it appears

they did so legally, because they pressed the relevant officials not to make them.

If, on the other hand, the corporations cut corners that amount to a violation of the law

or lawful regulations, then that needs to be known.

Not only do the appropriate punishments need to be meted out, but our elected officials

need to know everything that happened &#8212 legal, illegal and just plain stupid &#8212 in

deciding how to regulate such exploration in the future.