Why Americans distrust their government, part 4

Dear Friends,

As you may recall, I recently wrote about the EPA telling BP to stop using the dispersant Corexit.  Apparently, BP does not feel obligated to heed the demands of the EPA.  The New York Times has just reported (here) that BP is continuing to use Corexit despite the EPA's order to the contrary.  I am printing a few paragraphs from the article below.

The effort to stanch the vast oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was mired by setbacks on Monday as state and federal officials feuded with BP over its failure to meet deadlines and its refusal to stop spraying a chemical dispersant.
The oil company had indicated that it could stem the flow of oil on Tuesday by trying a procedure known as a top kill, in which heavy fluid would be pumped into the well. But on Monday morning the company’s chief operating officer said the procedure would be delayed until Wednesday.
At the same time, BP was locked in a tense standoff with the Environmental Protection Agency, which had ordered the company last week to find a “less toxic” chemical dispersant than the one it was using and to make the switch by Sunday evening. But BP continued spraying the chemical on Monday after informing the agency why it believed that the dispersant it has been using, called Corexit, was the safest available.

I am quite sure that if I flagrantly and publicly violated an order from the EPA, that the EPA would take immediate action to stop me, probably including significant civil and criminal penalties.  So what happens when the EPA issues an order to BP?  They just keep using a dispersant that nobody knows if it does more harm than good.

How can American's be expected to trust a government that lets big oil companies who are endangering humans, wildlife and the entire ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico violate that government's orders with seeming impunity?

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal