The Kaua'i Island Utility Co-op said yesterday it is cooperating with an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Fish and Wildlife Service of what it called the "unintentional killing of protected seabirds."

The utility said it learned of the investigation March 16 and that it has been in discussions with the Justice Department.

"While the investigation is not yet resolved, the co-op has had several meetings in the U.S. attorney's office on O'ahu" and has also exchanged written proposals, the company said in a release issued yesterday.

It has long been known that seabirds, and notably Kaua'i's population of Newell's shearwaters, occasionally are injured or killed when they hit power lines. Most of the groundings involve young birds on their first flights from mountain nesting burrows to the sea.

For three decades, the island has had a Save Our Shearwater program, aimed at collecting and rehabilitating downed birds. The program was launched by the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife, and in recent years, the utility has helped fund the program and has committed staff to it.

"Through this program ... KIUC has coordinated the rescue, rehabilitation and release to the wild of hundreds of downed seabirds," the utility said.

It said it is working with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Fish and Wildlife Service on a habitat conservation plan to minimize the impacts on seabirds of the utility's power lines, poles and other structures.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.