Gulf Coast to Hayward: You have your life back

VENICE, Louisiana (Reuters) - To many Gulf Coast residents, five words doomed BP Plc's outgoing chief executive Tony Hayward: 'I'd like my life back.'

The words Hayward uttered some 45 days into the worst oil spill in U.S. history reverberated throughout the region and enraged Gulf Coast residents who watched their lives fall apart.

On the day that BP announced that Hayward would step down on October 1, to be replaced by U.S.-born Bob Dudley, residents offered few kind words for Hayward.

"Glad he's outta here," said Larry Hooper, an Empire, Louisiana, resident who ran a fishing charter business until the massive oil slick shut down about a quarter of the Gulf of Mexico's U.S. federal fishing waters.

More than 5 million barrels of oil have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico since the undersea leak began. Triggered by an oil drilling rig explosion on April 20 that killed 11 people, the spill has devastated communities and fragile ecosystems along the Gulf Coast, killing or injuring countless sea creatures and coastal birds.

In announcing his resignation on Tuesday, Hayward said he did not think BP could move on in the United States if he was at the helm.

Along the Louisiana peninsula, Hayward's words are still poison.

"It kind of infuriated me when (Hayward) said he wanted to get his life back to normal. What about our lives? We're not getting them back," said Clifford Montecino, a 66-year-old Marrero resident who ran a fishing charter business before the spill.

"He was more concerned about his personal life than all the lives of all the people affected by the oil spill," echoed Buras resident Patty Williams.

Dudley, who will be the first American to lead BP, was raised in Mississippi, a fact that seems to be working in his favor among some Gulf residents.

"I think people would be more comfortable with someone running BP (who) is from the Deep South," said Richard Angelico, a 66-year-old lifelong resident of Orleans Parish, Louisiana. "Hayward was inept at public relations and speaking to people in southern Louisiana."

There was some sympathy for Hayward.

Buras resident Rick Seither said Hayward's infamous quote was taken out of context.

"I want to get back to my life. Don't think he meant it like that," Seither said.

(Editing by Jackie Frank)