Peoria Lifts Mile-Wide Evacuation After Ethanol Plant Bomb Threat

A credible bomb threat at a Peoria ethanol plant forced a mile-wide evacuation Friday — and the evacuation remains in force Saturday.

BioUrja Renewables notified Peoria police at 1:08 p.m. CT on Friday, November 13, that the company had received a bomb threat at its plant at 1 Edmund Street. A suspicious package was received around 2 p.m. By 6:45 p.m., authorities had determined the package represented a credible threat, and at 7:02 p.m. the evacuation order went out for everyone within a one-mile radius — a zone reaching across Peoria and into East Peoria, with a shelter at Manual Academy on South Griswold Street.

Bomb technicians rendered the device safe at about 9:12 p.m. Friday. That didn't end the emergency. The facility is large and hasn't been cleared, Peoria Police Chief Brad Dixon told reporters early Saturday, and crews are still searching it for other devices. About 75 people were staying at the Manual Academy shelter early Saturday.

Peoria Mayor Rita Ali, addressing reporters at the shelter, put the finding plainly: “We know it's a credible threat. We know it's a bomb.” She also warned that investigators couldn't yet determine whether additional devices are present. The FBI is on the investigation — Ryan Presley, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Springfield office, said federal agents were asked to assist Peoria police and are working alongside multiple agencies.

The evacuation is expected to continue well into Saturday, potentially into the afternoon, and police plan another update around noon CT. What hasn't been established publicly: who sent the threat, and when the mile around the plant can go home.

Update, Saturday afternoon: The evacuation is over. "As of 1 p.m., the evacuation order is lifted. The blast radius is canceled," Police Chief Brad Dixon said at his Saturday afternoon news conference, with FBI Springfield SAC Ryan Presley alongside. The order was also canceled for East Peoria, and the Coast Guard reopened the Illinois River at 1 p.m. More than 5,000 people had been evacuated from the one-mile radius around the plant.

An extensive search of the plant is complete and found no additional devices, Dixon said. What isn't finished is the hunt for whoever is responsible: the criminal investigation continues, no arrests have been announced, and ATF Chicago SAC Chris Amon said the search for the person or persons responsible goes on. The device rendered safe Friday night remains the only one found.