A proposed Tacoma methanol plant has been put on “pause,” according to the company that was planning the facility.

Northwest Innovation Works, the Chinese-backed company that’s proposing the plant, said public pressure prompted the company to ask the City of Tacoma to halt the environmental impact study, a requirement for moving plans for the plant forward, pending further community discussion.

“[W]e have been surprised by the tone and substance of the vocal opposition that has emerged in Tacoma,” said Northwest Innovation Works President Murray Godley in a statement on the company’s website. “To force a facility on a community that does not welcome it would not be consistent with our goals. Therefore, we have decided to pause the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) environmental review process in Tacoma.”

The proposed plant had drawn the ire of some Federal Way residents who worried that the facility could pollute Puget Sound, lower air quality and damage local soil in a repeat of damage done by the Tacoma-based ASARCO smelter that did environmental damage to much of the Sound area from before its shutdown in 1993.

The plant was also a cause for concern for Federal Way Mayor Jim Ferrell and every member of the Federal Way City Council, the latter of which unanimously passed a resolution opposing the plant.