WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama's point man for the clean up and recovery of the area affected by the Gulf oil spill will tour the region next week.
      
According to a statement from his office, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus will begin a five-day visit on Monday as he assesses damage from the millions of gallons of crude oil spewing from a deep-water well owned by BP.
      
Mabus, a former governor of Mississippi, will meet with state and local officials in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
      
Obama tapped Mabus for the task of leading the environmental and economic recovery of a region hit not only by one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history, but also still suffering the effects of Hurricane Katrina.