About 30 rocks were removed from the Nanakuli Homestead hillside behind Mokiawe Street Friday morning after the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands found them to be a threat to about 20 homes below.

About seven of the rocks were so large that a larger helicopter had to be called in to retrieve them after a smaller one struggled to lift them, said Charles Kaaukai, the Mokiawe Street resident who told DHHL officials about the problem at the end of April.

The Hawaii Division of Janod, a rock stabilization and remediation company which won a $65,000 emergency procurement bid to do the work, finished the work by 11:30 a.m. Janod employees had spent all of the previous day prepping for the removals. The rocks were airlifted to a nearby property where they are not a danger to the community, said Pierre Rousseau, Janod Hawaii operations manager.

Kaaukai said he decided to renew his call to get the rocks removed after reading in the Star-Advertiser about rockslide problems in Kalihi and Niu Valley.