Protesters Hang From Span To Keep Battleship Away

ASTORIA, Ore. - Eight protesters dangled from the Astoria Bridge today in an effort to prevent the battleship USS New Jersey from entering the Columbia River.

Authorities were having trouble removing the Greenpeace protesters from the 200-foot-high bridge because they were so securely attached, said Lt. Sherry Bourgeault, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Coast Guard in Portland.

``They have to be removed because the New Jersey is not going to come through with people dangling off the bridge,'' she said.

The protesters were about 20 feet below the bridge.

Greenpeace spokeswoman Cynthia Rust said the protest was to ``prevent the USS New Jersey from endangering the health and safety of the citizens of Oregon and Washington by bringing nuclear weapons'' up the Columbia.

Meanwhile, the 887-foot battleship was waiting offshore.