Coast Guard: Rear Adm. Landry Stepping Down As Federal Oil Spill Coordinator

U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry is stepping down from her role as federal on-scene coordinator for the BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) oil spill response to lead the agency's preparations for hurricane season, the Coast Guard said Monday.

Landry will return to her role as Commander of the Coast Guard's Eighth District June 1. Coast Guard commandant Adm. Robert Papp said in a statement that her return at the beginning of hurricane season "has been the strategy since the beginning of this response."

Rear Adm. James Watson, who has acted as Landry's deputy in the handling of the BP oil spill since April 23, will become the new federal on-scene coordinator.

The move comes after BP failed at what seemed a promising attempt to stop a mile-deep oil leak in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico by injecting heavy fluids. The failure has triggered sharp criticism from the government and the public. Now BP plans to cut a broken riser and replace it with a siphon to capture crude and send it to the surface.

Hurricane season, which starts June 1 and lasts through November, is expected to be more active this year than last year.

-ByAngel Gonzalez, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9214;angel.gonzalez@dowjones.com

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