“Not A Hoax!”: Bomb Defused At Ethanol Plant In Illinois

A bomb discovered at a renewable fuel plant in Peoria, Illinois, prompted local authorities Friday evening to declare a one-mile blast radius and evacuate thousands of people around the facility, raising questions about possible attempted industrial sabotage.

Timeline

Police discovered the package near the BioUrja facility at 2 p.m. local time on Friday. 

Mayor Rita Ali confirmed: “We know it’s a credible threat. We know it’s a bomb,” noting that the plant handles ethanol and highly combustible chemicals.

Police Chief Brad Dixon emphasized this was not a hoax (unlike most bomb threats) and asked for public patience while the site is searched.

By 9:12 p.m., the bomb had been rendered safe.

“The area of BioUrja has not been rendered safe, just the package that was on site. It’s a large facility, there’s going to be an exhaustive search,” Dixon said during a press conference earlier this morning. 

Searches continued for other possible devices throughout the wider area.

The FBI deployed agents to assist local and state agencies. Special Agent Ryan Presley told reporters that investigators were working to identify whoever was responsible.

What Is The Peoria Plant

Notably, BioUrja’s Peoria plant is a large corn-based ethanol and industrial alcohol facility, operated by BioUrja Renewables, part of Houston-based BioUrja Group. The facility has an annual production capacity of 135 million gallons of ethanol, including fuel ethanol blended into gasoline. 

The incident comes as fuel prices remain elevated amid ongoing Strait of Hormuz disruptions and Ukrainian attacks against Russian refineries. This means there are limited supply buffers to guard against a shock, whether geopolitical or due to sabotage of critical infrastructure. 

Local authorities have yet to identify a motive or anyone responsible.