The 2006-07 Idaho State University Reading Project focuses on the book "The Cyanide Canary," which was written about an industrial accident that occurred in Soda Springs.
Events will culminate when the book's authors, Robert Dugoni and Joseph Hilldorfer, present the discussion "Idaho Justice: The Cyanide Canary" at 7 p.m. Oct. 25 as a keynote presentation for the ISU Reading Project and the Idaho Conference on Health Care.The ISU Reading Project consists of a series of events beginning on Oct. 12 that encourage reading a common book to stimulate discussions among members of the ISU and southeast Idaho general communities.
For a complete listing of ISU Reading Project events, visit the Web site www.isu.edu/union/reading or call (208) 282-3451.
"The Cyanide Canary" (Simon & Schuster 2004) was honored as a Washington Post 2004 Best Book of the Year, and the Idaho Book of the Year. The book details an incident that occurred on Aug. 26, 1996, at a fertilizer plant in Soda Springs, Idaho, when a 20-year-old worker cleaned a storage tank containing cyanide, which he and other workers believed contained only dirt and water. The worker, according to the authors, was told he needed no safety equipment for the job.
Hilldorfer, a special agent for the EPA and member of the National Counter-Terrorism Evidence Response Team, has been involved in high-profile environmental investigations in the Pacific Northwest since 1992. Prior to joining the EPA, Hilldorfer was a distinguished special agent with the FBI in Seattle and New York City, working such high-profile cases as the Green River killer and going undercover for the Counter-Espionage Squad.
The book combines Hilldorfer's own experiences with interviews, sworn trial testimony, court transcripts, and newspaper articles to tell a fully rounded, gripping story of how an environmental crime was prosecuted.
Dugoni is a best-selling author and Idaho native. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University with a degree in journalism and clerked as a reporter for the Los Angeles School of Law before obtaining his doctorate of jurisprudence from the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law. He has practiced as a civil litigator for 19 years.
"We're excited that we have a book of national interest that discusses an incident that took place in southeast Idaho," said Bonnie Frantz, associate director of the ISU Student Unions and chair of the ISU Reading Project. "It is a compelling story that brings up a variety of pertinent issues."
Upcoming ISU Reading Project events include:
• Oct. 12 – Book discussion of "The Cyanide Canary" at noon in the Pond Student Union Building Heritage Room. Discussion leaders will be Bonnie Frantz and Sandra Shropshire.
• Oct. 17 – "Local Environmental Restoration" panel discussion at 7 p.m. in the PSUB Salmon River Suite. Local remediation experts will discuss environmental clean up of contaminants affecting land, water, vegetation and the food chain of southeast Idaho. Panel participants are Jeff Jones, phosphate administration program manager, U.S. Forest Service; Christina Cutler, Selenium Project manager, Fort Hall; and Tamzen Macbeth, regulatory scientist, Northwind, Inc.
• Oct. 23-24 – Showing of the 1998 film "A Civil Action" at 8 p.m. in the ISU PSUB Bengal Theater. The film stars John Travolta and Robert Duvall, and provides insight into the environmental issues surrounding Woburn, Mass. The movie is based on the 1996 Jonathan Harr book, "A Civil Action."
• Oct. 24 –"Environmental Law in Idaho: A Frontier on Fire" discussion at 6:30 p.m. in the PSUB Salmon River Suite, featuring guest speakers Judge B. Lynn Winmill, U. S. District Judge for the District of Idaho, and senior law clerk Dave Metcalf. The discussion will center on conflicts between extractive industries and protection of Idaho's vast wilderness, wolf reintroduction, impacts of grazing and logging on endangered species, mining waste in North Idaho lakes, and the storage of nuclear waste.
• Oct. 25 – Lecture "Investigative Writing: Better than Fiction" at noon in the PSUB Clearwater Room by speaker and author Robert Dugoni, co-author of "The Cyanide Canary." He will discuss writing non-fiction in narrative style.
• Oct. 25 – Lecture "Politics of the Environment" at 1 p.m. in the PSUB Clearwater Room by speaker and author Joseph Hilldorfer, co-author of "The Cyanide Canary." Hilldorfer will discuss the genesis of the EPA's Criminal Investigation Division and the politics of investigating and prosecuting big business. Discussion focuses on the doctrine of the low-hanging fruit. Big cases are dying on the vine while small cases are easily harvested.
• Oct. 25 – Keynote speech for the ISU Reading Project and the Idaho Conference on Health Care, "Idaho Justice: The Cyanide Canary," at 7 p.m. in the Pond Student Union Building Ballroom, by "The Cyanide Canary" authors Robert Dugoni and Joseph Hilldorfer. This is the opening of the health conference and will include remarks by ISU President Arthur C. Vailas and ISU Kasiska College of Health Professions Dean Dr. Linda Hatzenbuehler. Following the lecture there will be a book signing and reception in the PSUB Wood River Room.
• Oct. 26 – Panel Discussion "Keeping Employees Safe: Industrial Safety, Regulation, and Enforcement" at 8:30 a.m. in the PSUB Salmon River Suite featuring "The Cyanide Canary" co-author Hilldorfer, Jeanene Strong and Dennis Averill.