Oil spill sparked environmental catastrophe fears

An oil spill in one of Russia's largest export pipelines today sparked fears of an environmental catastrophe.
The spill in the Druzhba pipeline has contaminated four square miles of water sources near Russia's western border with Ukraine and Belarus.

A Russian Natural Resources Ministry spokesman said: "Judging by information reaching the ministry from representatives of environmental organisations, the consequences of the accident may be an environmental catastrophe in the region."

The 2485-mile Druzhba pipeline has the capacity to ship over 1.2 million barrels a day and generally works at or close to its full capacity.
The spill reportedly happened on Saturday but only became public today.

An official from state pipeline operator OAO Transneft played down the importance of the spill, claiming that the consequences had been dealt with over the weekend.
"It's already all cleared up. Now there is no problem," said Mikhail Sayapin.