No arrests or injuries reported as FBI investigates Illinois plant

Peoria Police Chief Brad Dixon addressed reporters just after midnight Saturday. “This is a credible threat,” Dixon said. “We need to take the blast radius seriously.”

Dixon also asked residents to bear with the disruption. “We understand that this is a disruptive process for our residents and guests,” he said. “We’re asking for the public’s patience while we work to make this area safe.”

FBI Special Agent Ryan Pressley said his agency was investigating, but declined to provide further details. “We will work tirelessly to identify the individual responsible and bring them to justice,” he said. No arrests have been made at this time and no injuries have been reported.

Peoria Mayor Rita Ali told WMBD-TV on Friday that BioUrja is “a plant that has ethanol and highly combustible types of chemicals, and so that’s what alarms us.”

Law enforcement officials in Peoria, Illinois, were searching the BioUrja Renewables facility on Saturday for other bombs and evidence, a day after a bomb was found at the ethanol plant and residents within a 1-mile radius were told to leave their homes. Officials said the device had been “rendered safe,” but the evacuation notice for all residents within a 1-mile radius of the industrial site remained in effect Saturday morning. Shelters have been set up for those displaced by the threat, authorities said.

It’s not unusual for law enforcement to receive bomb threats and suspicious package calls, but they often don’t result in a credible threat even though such calls are taken seriously by officials who must assess and investigate the claims. Just earlier this week, hundreds of airline passengers in Europe had their flights diverted or given military escorts after a series of bomb threats that officials have since declared were malicious hoaxes.

Peoria, with a population of around 110,000, is located about 150 miles (about 240 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. The BioUrja plant is located along the Illinois River. The company acquired the ethanol plant in 2021.