Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

The Cyanide Canary

A True Story of Injustice

Audiobook
92 of 94 copies available
92 of 94 copies available
Early in the morning on August 27, 1996, twenty-year-old Scott Dominguez showed up for an ordinary day at the fertilizing plant where he worked. By 11:00 a.m., he was clinging to life, unconscious and suffocating from toxic exposure to cyanide in a tank that was supposed to contain only mud and water.
EPA Special Agent Joseph Hilldorfer was tasked with finding out what really happened on that horrific day in Soda Springs, Idaho, but the answers would not be easily uncovered. For more than four years Hilldorfer, his partner Bob Wojnicz, and a force of top-ranking U.S. attorneys struggled to expose the disturbing truths behind the tragedy, but would their efforts be enough to put the man responsible, Allan Elias, behind bars?
  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Reminiscent of ERIN BROCKOVICH, THE CYANIDE CANARY is the account of the battle for justice on behalf of Scott Dominquez, a worker who was found unconscious in a storage tank laced with cyanide. The book recounts the efforts of author Joseph Hilldorfer, an EPA special agent, and two zealous prosecutors, who worked to bring to justice the tank's owner--who not only stored the dangerous chemicals, but also thumbed his nose at anyone who tried to stop him. The story reads like a thriller, even when it explains how difficult it is to enforce environmental laws and to prosecute environmental criminals. Michael Prichard's reading, however, is disappointing. Prichard never seems to demonstrate emotion, and his performance, yet again, is remarkably monotonic. Still, the listener can survive Prichard because the story sounds like a well-written novel. D.J.S. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      September 1, 2004
      The title refers to the cyanide in a tank that left Scott Dominguez, a worker at an Idaho plant, brain-damaged after an accident in 1996. As in a good thriller, the accident takes place in the first few pages, and the rest of the book is devoted to the legal case that followed. Dugoni, a freelance writer, and Hilldorfer, one of the Environmental Protection Agency investigators in the case, leave no doubt about who the bad guy is in this story: he's the plant's owner, Allan Elias, who had a long history of skirting the law in environmental matters. Using the memories of Hilldorfer and others involved in prosecuting the case, the authors build their story. They drive the narrative well in the book's first half (they're particularly strong in portraying the personalities of both the investigators and the witnesses in the case), but the story loses momentum when the case comes to the courtroom. The trial is depicted blow-by-blow, and, until the verdict is given, some of the outrage of the earlier pages is lost amid the minutiae of the legal system. Still, this book successfully fleshes out the excitement and the difficulty of prosecuting environmental criminals in the U.S.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Loading