Kauai County planning officials have shut down an allegedly illegal operation that crushed and delivered rocks for two state construction projects involving $5.4 million in work on dams and reservoirs.

The county said Waioli Corp., a nonprofit landowner, has shut down its operation at Lepeuli, between Kilauea and Anahola.

County Engineer Larry Dill said the firm had an agricultural exemption that allowed grubbing, grading and stockpiling, but did not have a permit for rock "quarrying and crushing activities." (Grubbing is the clearing of land by removing roots and stumps.)

Attorney Donald Walker, representing Waioli Corp. and lessee Paradise Ranch, said he objects to the idea of calling the activity "quarrying" because it implies dynamiting and digging. He said no rocks were taken out of the ground on the less-than-300-acre parcel; rather, the activity involved crushing rocks left in piles from earlier farming operations.

He said the county officials objected to the crushing of the rocks and that the crushing was stopped.

Jennings Pacific has the $5.4 million contract to provide slope protection of the inner face of the Wailua and Upper Kapahi reservoir dams, as well as work on erosion control, according to county and state authorities.

Ryan K. Nishikawa, the Kauai District engineer for the state Procurement Office, said the state was not involved in the acquisition of the rocks.

"Under the construction contract, it is the contractor’s responsibility to provide all of the rocks needed for the projects," he said.

Nishikawa said his office did not check on where the rocks were coming from.

The contracts to Jennings Pacific were awarded in August 2010 with a notice to proceed in June.

The original contract completion date is today for the Wailua Reservoir and March 8 for the Upper Kapahi Reservoir. Nishikawa said Jennings Pacific has applied for an extension deadline for both contracts, partially based on rain delaying work and some work order changes.

The rock crushing at Lepeuli was halted as a result of an Aug. 23 letter from the county Planning Department.

Planning Director Mike Dahilig said Waioli was allowed to remove what was already quarried and that no fine was imposed because of a lack of penalty provisions in county ordnances.

"The Planning Department does not have fine authority for violations of its county code, only to order a cease-and-desist and seek civil remedies like an injunction through the courts," he said.