Above: This recent Vice documentary digs into the danger oil trains pose to the PNW

People in Washington really don’t like oil trains, apparently.

Or at least, the 700 strong crowd that showed up to the Department of Ecology’s meeting in Olympia made their overwhelming disapproval clear. The public comment period at last night’s meeting stretched on until 11:20 p.m.

The meeting, held to review the state’s draft report on potential oil spill risks and emergency response systems in case of environmental disaster, suggested allotting more funding to spill response agencies and rail inspectors.

But according to the News Tribune, most in the crowd simply wanted to hault oil activity in Washington altogether:

[…] the crowd of nearly 700 took plenty of shots at hauling oil by rail and some urged the practice be stopped.“We simply need to say no to Big Oil. We need to say no to oil trains. We need to move forward with clean reliable energy,’’ urged Cathy Wolfe, one of three Thurston County commissioners who spoke critically of the oil industry’s fast-growing shipments of volatile Bakken crude oil from North Dakota and Montana, which is expected to total nearly 3 billion gallons this year.Others speaking out were Olympia Mayor Stephen Buxbaum and Tacoma City Councilman Ryan Mello who urged steps to ensure safe transport and adequate equipping for fire fighters and other first responders. Mello said a Tacoma port disaster risks 40,000 jobs.