Whenever there is a debate over the need for rigorous government oversight of industrial practices, free-market proponents argue that businesses will do the best job of regulating themselves. The thinking seems to be that the cost of an environmental (or other) catastrophe would be so much that businesses will think it is in their best interest to operate safely.

Then cars begin to accelerate out-of-control and we learn that the automaker may have been slow to correct the problems or notify the government about its internal findings.

Then an oil rig explodes and pours millions of gallons of pollution into the Gulf of Mexico. Worse, the government agency responsible for monitoring the oil well had loosened regulations in a way that may have contributed to the tragedy. The Associated Press reports that the cutoff valve which failed has broken down at other wells since regulators weakened testing requirements.

Private enterprise will not police itself.

Those who watched the History Channel’s “America: The Story of Us,” may recognize that we ought to have learned this 99 years ago from the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. That historic calamity in New York City claimed 146 lives but paved the way for more stringent workplace fire safety rules.

Enforcement of health and safety laws has made the workplace safer, made automobiles safer and made the environment safer.

Unfortunately, sometimes those charged with protecting Americans from industry’s rush to collect profits become too close to those they are supposed to be monitoring.

Then we all lose.

The Associated Press reports that safety rules have been watered down and inspectors have not always even bothered showing up.

Oil rigs, such as the Deepwater Horizon, are supposed to be inspected monthly. Yet, in the five years leading up to the April 20 explosion, inspectors skipped visits to the oil rig about once every four months.

That 75 percent inspection rate might be a C-grade for the inspectors, but the explosion that left 11 people dead and spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico represents a colossal failure.

It may also represent a cautionary tale worth considering as the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania seeks to capitalize on the rush to tap the natural gas reserves in the Marcellus shale region.

It only takes one mammoth foul-up to make a mockery of the efforts to protect the environment while we exploit the earth’s mineral resources.