Life threatening health risks from Kokzhide oil field operations threaten villages of Shubarshi and Kenkiyak in Aktobe Oblast, Kazakhstan
14 May 2026
As of April 28, 2026, AirKz air quality governmental monitoring stations identified multiple incidences of non-compliance with toxic emissions control at the Kokzhide Oil Field. Data from the government monitoring stations revealed hazardous and life-threatening levels of H2S (hydrogen sulfide), SO2 (sulfur dioxide), and NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) in the air in Shubarshi and Kenkiyak villages, Aktobe oblast. On April 28, H2S reached an extreme 5.1 times higher than the maximum allowable concentrations (MAC)...
Monitoring data from April 20 to April 28 indicates that pollutant concentrations fluctuated between “very high level of pollution,” “high level of pollution,” “increased level of pollution,” and “low level of pollution” categories. Whenever the concentration stayed below a “very high level of pollution” category, or MAC, the levels alternated between “high pollution level” or “increased level of pollution” categories. Although these categories fall below MAC levels of pollution, pollutant concentrations remain unsafe and harmful to villagers’ health, exceeding global health recommendations...
Crude Accountability calls for an immediate halt to the activity at the field, which is creating toxic emissions that put local families in a vulnerable and dangerous situation regarding their health and well-being. According to the Constitution of Kazakhstan, the government “set[s] as its objective the protection of an environment favorable for human life and health”...