Seven people involved in last month's protests blocking a Royal Dutch Shell icebreaker will face civil penalties of up to $25,000 each for interfering with the safe operation of a vessel, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
They were either dangling from the St. Johns Bridge or standing on the bridge helping the protesters.
"While the Coast Guard supports peaceful protest activity on domestic waters, the actions of these individuals violated federal law," Capt. Daniel Travers, commander of the Coast Guard Sector-Columbia River, said in a prepared statement.
The Coast Guard cited Elizabeth Mount, Benjamin Reynoso, Michael Luurtsema, Katharine Loncke, Mark Floegel, Caroline Hansley and Sharon Spencer. They will be assigned hearing officers and can either pay the fines -- to be determined by the Coast Guard Hearing Office in Arlington, Virginia -- or fight the citations.
The minimum suggested fine per person is $5,000, said Petty Officer 1st Class George Degener, a regional spokesman for the Coast Guard.
"These people did create a very hazardous, very dangerous situation on the water," Degener said Friday. "Our goal is to hold them accountable for their actions."
The Coast Guard earlier initiated civil penalties against 13 people in kayaks and canoes who entered an established safety zone around the icebreaker, the Fennica, in the Willamette River on July 31. The recommended fine for them is $500 each.
Greenpeace USA organized the protests to prevent the ship from returning to oil-drilling operations in the Arctic.
Cassady Sharp, a spokeswoman for Greenpeace, said the organization hasn't been officially notified of the latest citations. However, "we were completely prepared to face the legal consequences of the protest in Portland," she said. "We do prepare financially" for the possibility of fines.
Most of the seven demonstrators named this week were from outside Portland. Floegel works for Greenpeace USA as its research director and has been involved with its Arctic drilling campaign for several years; he provided support to those who were hanging from the bridge, Sharp said. Hansley is an organizer for Greenpeace.
The others were likely part of Greenpeace's "loose network of activists" nationwide, Sharp said.
It's possible Portlanders could see another protest like the one last month, Sharp said.
"We are 100 percent committed to stopping Shell's lease to drill in the Arctic, so if that requires us to go to Portland, then we will definitely do that," she said.