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An American Company Drilled for Oil in Kenya — and Left Behind Soaring Cancer Rates
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of The Intercept
Posted: May 7th, 2026
https://theintercept.com/2026/04/06/amoco-bp-oil-kargi-kenya...
In Kargi, a remote desert village in the far north of Kenya, cancers of the digestive tract plague the population at unusually high rates. The disease most often attacks the esophagus, though stomach cancer is also common. Some patients think it’s a punishment from God. The evidence on the ground suggests it’s more likely from a multinational oil company. In the 1980s, foreign work crews dressed like astronauts descended on the village of Kargi and the surrounding Chalbi Desert to drill for oil. They spent five unsuccessful years boring nearly a dozen wells thousands of feet into the ground. The men were from Amoco, an American oil company now owned by BP. To mark their presence was a dry white substance scattered on the ground, close to the water wells used by residents and their livestock. The substance the company left behind contained heavy metals and known carcinogens. When locals discovered the flaky substance around the wells, many believed it was natural salt and started using it to cook their food. The water was contaminated. High levels of carcinogenic toxic chemicals, namely nitrates, had seeped into surrounding boreholes and wells — the only water supply in the desert. Animals began dying in the thousands. And people started getting cancer. By the early 2000s, the cancer rate in the community was three times the national average. No official cleanup has ever been done. The community has lost hope in getting answers.
Note: For more along these lines, read our concise summaries of news articles on corporate corruption and toxic chemicals.
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