Residents of a small community in southwestern B.C. are worried that there may be little they can do to stop the expansion of a gravel pit, despite concerns about their health, noise and the environment.

Residents of Deroche showed up at a public hearing on June 17 to voice their opposition to zoning changes that will permit Sonora Enterprises Ltd. to process rock from an expanded gravel pit operation.

This was the second time in many months residents have gathered at Deroche Community Hall to protest.

The company's application to expand the gravel pit was filed on April 30, 2006.

When reached on Tuesday, a Sonora spokesperson declined to comment on the application, saying the company preferred to wait until there are further developments in the application process.

If this rezoning request is granted, residents say it will set a precedent that will allow for the installation of more gravel pits in the community, including some they say would affect their drinking water from Deroche Mountain.

But due to provincial legislation, it may be impossible for opponents to stop the expansion from going ahead.

According to the Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) website, Deroche is protected by the Regional Growth Strategy, which allows for sustainable development so long as the environment is protected and the water is managed.

But Dick Bogstie, chair of electoral services committee with the FVRD, says the provincial Mines Act can override decisions made by local authorities.

This means Deroche does not have the authority to halt further mining developments, including gravel pits, Bogstie said.

Under provincial legislation through the Mines Act, if someone wants to start up a gravel pit in a citizen's front yard, they can do it, so long as they do not process the minerals and they are just moving the material, he explained.

"Gravel and quarries are issues throughout the province," he said. "It's an issue where (mining companies) want to be as close to the market as they can and as close to the roads as they can in order to maximize their revenues."

Residents are concerned the proposed legislation will eventually affect their water supply and air quality -- and that trucks and other equipment will emit high noise levels that will disrupt the otherwise peaceful community.

One of them is Wendy Bales. She lives right behind the gravel pit proposed for rezoning, and said the community is just shy of being 100 per cent against the gravel expansion and rezoning. She says only two residents said they had conditions they might accept the changes under.

Bales attempted to send further information in opposition to the proposed gravel pit changes to FVRD manager of developmental approvals Rick McDermid, who told her, in an email, no further information can be brought forward to the board now that the public hearing has concluded.

Messages left for McDermid at the FVRD by CTV News were returned by Bogstie.

"On the one hand, we have (Environment Minister) Barry Penner who says he's going to protect our water," she said. "But on the other hand, under the Mines Act they don't protect your water."

But city planners say the town, which sits between Mission and Agassiz, will not be negatively affected. They also insist that noise levels will remain within acceptable levels.

Professor Michael Bauer from the School of Environmental Health at UBC said the dust from gravel pits and the exhaust from diesel equipment can both have negative health impacts.

"There are quite a number of studies (which indicate) that dust can cause health effects, even at relatively low concentrations," Dr. Bauer explained, noting dust can cause respiratory health problems.

"Diesel exhaust is likely a human carcinogen and also creates a large number of smaller particles that have very strong health effects -- respiratory and cardiac," he said.

"Dust will tend to actually settle out rather rapidly from the gravel itself, it's really when things are happening when there is activity and diesel exhaust would stay in the air for quite a long time."

The purpose of the growth strategy is to guide decisions on growth, change and development within the FVRD to the year 2021, the FVRD website states.

According to a document prepared for the International Centre for Sustainable Cities, the growth strategy is focused on issues crossing local government boundaries, including air pollution and water quality.

But with provincial legislation overriding the FVRD, it seems unlikely small communities like Deroche can be protected by the potential health hazards posed by mining developments.

"(FVRD board) says that in their mandate that they are concerned with environmental and health aspects in the community, but at the meeting they said it wasn't part of their mandate to study health impacts," Bales said.

Deroche is a very small community that is part of the Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD). It is about 25 km east of the Lower Mainland suburb of Mission and about 23 km west of Agassiz.

As of May 16, 2006 the population of Deroche totaled 139 people. The community encompassed an area of 1.4 square kilometres, according to the B.C. Government's 2006 Census.

Bales said the pit that applied for the rezoning is in between Deroche and Lake Errock, which is also in the same district and has a much larger population that would also be affected.

The FVRD board will hear the report from the public hearing at a meeting tonight, Tuesday, June 24.

A petition against the rezoning was originally filed with the FVRD on March 31, 2008.