Opponents are expected to appeal the decision by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency.

Regulators have approved construction of Puget Sound Energy's 14-story-tall liquid natural gas plant on the Tacoma waterfront.

Climate activists and the Puyallup Tribe have tried for years to stop the plant, which is nearly complete, from being built.

The permit allows Puget Sound Energy to finish construction and ultimately deliver 250,000 gallons of gas a day by pipeline from western Canada to the plant and super-chill up to 8 million gallons of gas in a tank as tall as the Tacoma Dome.

In its evaluation of the plant’s impacts, the clean air agency assumed the plant would operate for 40 years.

“The facility as now proposed has positioned Tacoma as a dangerous fossil fuel anchor holding us back from a sustainable future,” a Puyallup Tribal Council press release states.

"Now, we can move forward on a facility that will bring cleaner air to Tacoma, help reduce greenhouse gases and ensure our customers' homes stay warm on the coldest days of the year," Puget Sound Energy spokesperson Janet Kim emailed.