According to Pettro, employees from the county's zoning department first told him in June 2006 that he needed to apply for a special exemption permit to mine in the protected area, but they also told him he could continue to excavate the land while his application was being processed. Pettro has not yet been fined for the zone violation.

In July, the county Board of Adjustment denied Pettro's special exemption request, but it wasn't until September that the county's planning and zoning department mailed Pettro a notice to comply that told Pettro to begin rehabilitating the already partially excavated land immediately.

In a separate letter, Pettro was asked to provide a rehabilitation bond for the critical environment land. But technically it is impossible to require a reclamation bond for a critical environment zone since the bonds are associated with mining projects and mining is not allowed in a critical environment zone.

Pettro maintains that removing gravel from his property is a necessary part of rehabilitating and re-sloping the land.

"I just don't want people to think I'm being dishonest," Pettro said in an interview with the Deseret Morning News. "(The county) didn't say, 'Stop working.' They said, 'Keep doing what you're doing.' They never said to quit working, ever."

Deputy Utah County Attorney David Shawcroft disagrees.

"The notice to comply is a notice that what you're doing is not approved and you have to quit it," Shawcroft said. "To some extent, that is a notice to cease and desist, although it wasn't an order of the court."

Jeff Mendenhall, director of the Utah County department of community development, says his department was very clear that Pettro should stop mining the area.

"There was no mistaken communication with our department," Mendenhall said. "I think it was clear to us what could or couldn't be done on the property."

Shawcroft said Pettro may be fined for his violations, but the issue is still undecided.

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E-mail: achoate@desnews.com