Ten years ago, more than a dozen schoolchildren in a small Kazakh village collapsed and had seizures.
When panicked parents tried to get answers for the mysterious, synchronous illness, local officials offered dubious explanations: The parents were feeding their kids too much junk food. The girls’ periods were causing them to collapse. The kids were faking being sick.
But residents of the village of Berezovka were confident that, three miles away, Karachaganak — a massive oil and gas field operated by Western companies — had released toxic emissions into their community.
Today, former residents still suffer chronic illness. Some continue to faint regularly.
My latest for @ICIJorg explores how the arrival of Western energy companies like Shell and Eni to Kazakhstan affected the once-vibrant community of Berezovka. icij.org/investigations…
To report this story, we partnered with @RFERL in Kazakhstan, visiting frontline communities where residents complained of oily water, unbreathable air and damage to their agricultural lifestyle.
This story is part of the #CaspianCabals investigation, which examines the rise of a critical Kazakhstan-Russia pipeline and the oil fields that feed it.
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