"What I was trying to say is gasoline is not coming up off the coast," he said. "I'm not saying you couldn't smell anything, but I did not (smell anything)."
Overreaction to the odor could harm tourism, Bryant said.
"If people having conventions hear there's an odor of gasoline, they might want to cancel," he said. "My comments were meant to say 'You're not going to detect or be offended by any unusual odor.'"
While Bryant has heard reports of crude oil-related odors, "I don't know how that is a great issue," he said.
They still don't get that they have a big problem on their hands.