The Coast Guard and BP reached a settlement Friday with environmental groups on how best to guard against accidentally killing endangered sea turtles during controlled burns in the Gulf of Mexico designed to curb the oil spill's spread.

Three environmental groups - the Center for Biological Diversity, the Turtle Island Restoration Network and the Animal Defense League - had sued in federal court in New Orleans on Wednesday, charging that oil spill responders had taken inadequate precautions while conducting the burns.