limp_leak why are you so determined to say this crew were wrong?
Take-offs are optional. If the captain has ANY doubt at all that there is an issue (ie the Company performance data may not have taken the ship into account) then he'd be an idiot to take off!
ATC can say all they want about where the ship is... they don't necessarily have access to your company engine out procedures/performance and the splays that go with it. I remember getting revised takeoff charts for a TREE that was about a mile off the centreline because it was in the splay.
I seriously hope that you aren't flight crew. If you are, please do let me know which airline you fly for because I won't be going anywhere near them with an attitude like yours.