Coast Guard Out of Its Depth in Fighting Oil Rig Fires

Coast Guard admits it does not have expertise to fight oil rig fires and that its actions may have contributed to sinking of the rig in the gulf.

The Coast Guard also pressured BP into removing the "temporary seal" despite the fact that it worked and was working at the time Thad Allen wanted it removed. The Coast Guard lost that battle.

I can't make this stuff up.

The key paragraphs which will tie this thing up in court for years:

The question of what caused the platform to collapse into the Gulf two days later remains unanswered and could prove vital to ongoing legal proceedings and congressional investigations.

That is because the riser pipe from which the majority of BP’s oil spewed did not start leaking until after the rig sank. Experts and some lawsuits have openly tied the sinking of the drilling vessel to the severity of the leak. 

Yup.