Anti-fracking activists delayed the start of the Boulder County commissioners' Tuesday afternoon meeting on oil and gas regulations for nearly half an hour, chanting their opposition to that drilling technique and demanding the commissioners resign if they won't ban hydraulic fracturing in unincorporated Boulder County.
Among those reading loudly from prepared scripts was a pair of school children, one of whom said, "We are standing up for our future ... Protect us from the dangers of fracking."
"We deserve a fighting chance," said Zapporah Abraham Paiss, a 13-year-old Centennial Middle School student. "With vibrant water, soil and plants," said Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, a 12-year-old Centennial School student. They said afterward that they're members of Earth Guardians.
Commissoners Will Toor, Cindy Domenico and Deb Gardner left their seats and the packed hearing room when the demonstration began and returned only after it had ended.
As the commissioners departed from the hearing room, one person in the audience shouted: "You can run but cannot hide!"
When the meeting resumed, Domenico, chairwoman of the county board, asked the standing-room-only crowd to "behave in a manner that is respectful" so the commissioners would have a chance to hear everyone wanting to make comments at the formal public hearing.
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