Moscow ? Russia’s Natural Resources Ministry said Monday that an oil pipeline leak in western Russia threatened environmental damage, but the pipeline’s operator said the spill was far smaller than the ministry claimed and had already been cleaned up.

The Natural Resources Ministry backed off an earlier warning that the spill was a potential environmental catastrophe. The ministry initially said the spill, which occurred Saturday in the western Bryansk region on the border with Ukraine and Belarus, affected a 4-square-mile area and contaminated water sources.

“Judging by information reaching the ministry from representatives of environmental organizations … the consequences of the accident may be an environmental catastrophe in the region,” the ministry’s first statement said. However, several hours later, the ministry issued a second statement saying experts were “not disposed to call the accident … an ecological catastrophe.”

The 2,500-mile Druzhba pipeline can transport more than 1.2 million barrels a day and generally works near or at full capacity.