Peoria Lifts 1-Mile Evacuation After Bomb Search Clears Ethanol Plant

Q: Who planted the bomb that paralyzed a city, and was the renewable energy facility targeted for its explosive potential?

No one has been identified publicly, and no arrests had been made as of Saturday after the evacuation was lifted. Peoria police, the FBI, ATF and Illinois State Police are treating it as a criminal investigation and say they are still working to determine who placed the device at the BioUrja Renewables plant. There is also no public evidence yet that the ethanol plant was chosen specifically because it is a renewable energy facility. What officials have said is that the plant’s industrial setting and the combustible materials associated with ethanol production made the threat far more dangerous. Police Chief Brad Dixon said the one-mile evacuation zone was based on the material surrounding the device inside the plant, and Mayor Rita Ali noted the site contains ethanol and other highly combustible substances. That means the facility may have been significant because it offered the potential for a much larger blast or secondary damage, but investigators have not announced a motive or tied the act to opposition to renewable energy. At this stage, any claim about why the plant was targeted would be speculative. What is established is that the bomb was deemed credible, was rendered safe, no additional devices were found after an extensive search, more than 5,000 people were evacuated, and the investigation is continuing.

3 articles · Updated · CNN · Nov 14

About 24 hours after the alert began, Peoria police lifted the evacuation order and ended the one-mile blast radius around BioUrja Renewables after finding no additional devices.
More than 5,000 residents and workers had been cleared from downtown after authorities found a package they said was a credible bomb inside the sprawling ethanol plant and later rendered it safe.
No injuries or arrests were reported. FBI, ATF, Illinois State Police and Coast Guard teams assisted the search, while river traffic and Interstate 74 access were restricted until Saturday afternoon.
The threat disrupted city activity, canceling a Jon Pardi concert and pausing events at the Peoria Civic Center, including a minor league hockey game and Illinois Comic Con.