Maricopa County air-quality officials have told Sun City activists that there is little the agency can do to block an Indian tribe from opening a new sand-and-gravel mine in the Agua Fria River.

Environmentalists in the West Valley have been concerned ever since the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community released plans to mine a 240-acre county island that straddles the Agua Fria between Youngtown and El Mirage. The tribe has not discussed any timeline for the mine opening but said it wants to be prepared when the sand and gravel market picks up again.

As part of that process, the tribe will have to seek an air-quality permit. Nearby residents in Sun City, El Mirage and Youngtown, who have long complained about air pollution from ongoing mining activity along the Agua Fria, have pressed county officials to reject the permit.

The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community has not yet filed for an air-quality permit. County rules limit what air-quality officials can do about the expected application, a Maricopa County official told West Valley residents last week.

"If (an applicant) can comply with any of the regulations we have, we are required to issue a permit," said Lucinda Swann, permitting manager for the county's Air Quality Department.

Swann spoke at a meeting for the Sun City Home Owners Association's environmental committee last week and explained how permitting works. The agency has no discretion when issuing a permit, she said.

"We can't take things like zoning issues into account even if we want to," she said.

The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community has four air-quality permits for other sites in the county under the company names Salt River Materials Group and Phoenix Cement Co., Swann said.

Salt River Materials Group acquired a permit from the county's flood-control district in 2006 and renewed that five-year permit in January. In February, the group asked for the permit to be suspended. Flood-control officials said that means the company must continue to maintain the site but will not be able to mine until it reactivates the permit.

Youngtown Mayor Mike LeVault, who is leading the opposition to the mine, said his group has hired an environmental attorney. The group is moving forward behind the scenes on a number of fronts.

"We're going to do everything we can to delay and derail this project," LeVault said. "We knew that someday we would have to suit up and fight this battle."

LeVault and other homeowners are protesting the close proximity of the future mine to a 783-home Youngtown community called Agua Fria Ranch. Sun City activists long have protested what they say are unhealthy dust and toxins that come from about 28 mines that work the riverbed.

An El Mirage annexation

The controversy about the planned mine started to gain momentum late in 2011 when the El Mirage City Council started negotiations to annex the site. City officials plan to work out a development agreement with the tribe by the end of the year.

At the time, El Mirage Mayor Lana Mook and other council members reasoned that while they could not stop the mine from opening, they might be able to influence issues, such as mine-related noise and traffic in El Mirage. The city also is working with the tribe on plans to develop a mixed-use employment center on the land after mining is complete. The mine could operate for decades before the land is redeveloped.

Stephen Anderson, attorney for the tribe, told the council in December that state law gives the company the right to mine the land, whether it is annexed or remains in the county's boundaries.

Salt River Materials Group plans to start mining when the sand-and-gravel materials market picks up. Demand for sand and gravel, which is used for construction, slowed during the economic downturn.

Housing market is rising

That day may not be too far off.

Steve Trussell, executive director of the Arizona Rock Products Association, told the Sun City group that demand for materials from gravel mines will increase with the housing market despite a steep drop in operations during the recession.

"There is a great demand here in the Valley, and that demand will continue to rise," Trussell said.

He argued that the industry must put mines where they find the best materials and that those materials are in the Agua Fria, a "world-class resource."

Executives from the Salt River Materials Group sit on the Arizona Rock Products Association board and have a record for responsible mining, he said.

"We are taking that very seriously," Trussell said of environmental concerns. "We want to be good corporate citizens, but first we want to be good neighbors."

LeVault said he is not opposed to any mining, just mines that operate close to homes. He said he would like the state Legislature to tighten laws so cities and towns can have a greater say in where mines operate.

"My objective is to continue to dialogue and to get the property owners to agree there's a more neighborly way to use that property than to drop a sand-and-gravel mine in the middle of thousands of homes," LeVault said.