A little more than a year later and not much has changed to make some residents feel safer in the presence of increased crude oil shipments at the Port of Albany. That's according to the group, "People of Albany United for Safe Energy" or PAUSE. As Karen Tararache reports, their demands remain the same- stop ignoring us and start protecting us. 

ALBANY, N. Y. -- "I don't know if any of you live in a community where your neighbors own hazmat suits, mine do," Allison McLean Lane said.

In 2011, Albany County Legislator Allison McLean Lane and her husband bought a home in the Village of Menands.

"We knew that they did carry some dangerous products but we were comfortable with the volume so we were comfortable buying our home there and raising our children there," Lane said.

She said just one year later they noticed that two trains turned into eight a day, an increase that has also frightened many other Albany residents that want tighter regulations of the oil shipments.

Lane added, "And when I tell you I can count them from my backyard each and every car I have counted upwards of 155 cars which are well over a mile long."

Legislator Doug Bullock questioned, "How much of the tar sands is Global bringing in to the Port of Albany?"

Last February, members of PAUSE gathered at Giffin Memorial Elementary School to hear a proposal by the DEC and Global Partners. 

Bullock asked, "Where are they mixing the tar sands and lighter crude?"

The creation of seven boilers would allow for crude to be unloaded and shipped out at a faster rate.

Bullock continued, "What is the proportion of tar sands and lighter crude in the new mix?"

Despite a public comment period, a proclamation signed by 21 legislators and a years worth of asking the same questions, members of PAUSE still have no answers from the DEC.

Bullock said, "Is this mixture of the bakkan bit more or less explosive than the bakkan by itself?"

PAUSE Spokesperson, Sandy Steubing said, "We'll keep at it, we're here protesting, we write letters, we make calls but thus far they've refused to even look at it."

The DEC has not returned Time Warner Cable News' request for comment.