BP Just Effed-Up

There was once a time when the Gulf area contained so much crude oil that it would just seep up through the ocean floor and create ponds of oil which would create "islands" known to those who would traverse these parts.
But when oil was discovered and processed at the nearby Spindletop site - the "oil pond" disappeared.
http://www.wtblock.com/wtblockjr/oilpond.htm

The Gulf area is used to oil and it's production into usable products.
Many down here work at (or have worked at) refineries and understand the costs and dangers associated with the oil industry.
BP just effed-up.
Initial reports were of a small leak, then a medium leak and now reports are that the recent leak has turned into a full-blown spill made up of, not one, but three leaks.

In an area known for oil refineries - why did BP wait until the spill became too big to control to attempt containment?
Wouldn't it have been easier to contain a spill that only covered a few square miles instead of lying and waiting until the spill became unmanageable?
Shouldn't the company have told the truth about the size of the problem and immediately deployed floating booms, skimmers and chemical dispersants?
If the scope of the problem was known from the start - there were more than enough resources available nearby to have mitigated the damage done by this spill.