SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. government approved a key permit Tuesday that helps pave the way for construction of a waste-to-energy plant in Puerto Rico that local environmentalists have long opposed.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded New York-based Energy Answers International an air permit to operate a 77-megawatt facility in the northern coastal town of Arecibo. It would be the U.S. territory’s largest recycling plant if approved.