Break Free from Fossil Fuel Event in Thornton

On May 14, environmental activists marched to protest fracking in Thornton, CO. Despite the chilly temperatures and occasional rain, protesters from national and local environmental groups met at Big Dry Creek Open Space.

The protest was organized through 350.org whose co-founder Bill McKibben was on hand along with House District 31 representative Joe Salazar and Thornton City Council Representative Val Vigil. Salazar gave a speech to the protesters. “I made a commitment to keep running bills against the oil and gas industry,” he said.

There are a number of concerns about fracking sites and their effects on the surrounding environments. One activist told of a site with three leaks in the last year.

Some of the protesters marched from the Big Dry Creek Open Space onto a fracking site. The site is private property and police warned the protesters were trespassing, but no arrests were made.

This was the second Break Free From Fossil Fuels protest this week. On May 12, they disrupted a Bureau of Land Management mineral rights auction in Lakewood.

Irene Rodriguez reporting.