NEW ORLEANS (Legal Newsline) – In a speech given to the Society for Environmental Journalists on Wednesday, BP spokesman Geoff Morrell told the group that he was discouraged by speculative reporting that took place during and after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill regarding the impact the spill would have on the environment.

The 2010 oil spill began with the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and resulted in a 87-day long gusher that dumped as much as an estimated 4.2 million barrels – 176 million gallons – of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.