[Source: Reuters]

State and federal officers on Saturday searched a biofuels plant in Peoria, Illinois, for explosives after a device deemed a “credible threat” was found ​nearby, officials said, prompting a notice for residents to evacuate ‌an area with a 1-mile radius.

The evacuation order was lifted on Saturday, almost a full day after the device was discovered on Friday close to the BioUrja ethanol ​plant in Peoria, a city of about 110,000 people, some 150 ​miles (240 km) southwest of Chicago, officials said. Bomb technicians rendered ⁠it safe, Peoria police said.

Law enforcement personnel on Saturday afternoon finished ​their search of the sprawling facility, which is the size of 44-1/2 football ​fields, Peoria Police Chief Brad Dixon said.

A standard American football field occupies roughly 1.3 acres (0.5 hectares).

The Peoria Police Department said in a statement on Facebook that nothing “of concern” was ​found and the evacuation notice was lifted.

The owner of the plant, ​the BioUrja Group of Houston, Texas, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The ‌incident ⁠began on Friday after the plant informed the police that it had received a bomb threat. Dixon on Saturday said he would not call the device a bomb because the process for determining its composition was ongoing.

“I ​can just tell ​you it was ⁠deemed a credible threat,” Dixon told reporters at a briefing. “There’s an extensive criminal investigation going on.”

Officials determined a ​potential blast radius of 1 mile based not solely on ​the ⁠device itself, but also on the materials nearby, Dixon said.

Officials from the FBI and the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told reporters that ⁠their ​personnel, including explosives experts, were helping to search ​the facility and were aiding in the hunt for whoever was responsible for the device.