The alternative view is they got off really really lightly for wrecking wetland and sandblasting the neighbourhood.

The reason the deluge system was installed so quickly is exactly the reason you can't argue that 'they wanted to see if they could do without'. They knew a priori that it was necessary, that's why they'd basically already staged the hardware.

Installing a deluge system pre-launch would have cost them a month, a month that they wouldn't have spent afterwards, waiting for another round of sign-offs.

It was a dumb decision and posting fan-blogs like Teslarati isn't a good argument.

The blog was refenced for time stamped evidence of what I presented. The fan nature of it shouldn't matter unless you think the pictures are fabricated.

That said, I think you are right. Most of it comes down to how much someone cares about debris in the wetland and dust clouds.