A second bomb threat at Iowa Fertilizer Company's new manufacturing plant in northern Lee County in the last six weeks yielded no explosive device. The first threat, which was made in July, also proved to be unfounded.
Jim Sholl, Lee County Sheriff, said his office responded to the facility near Wever on Thurs., Sept. 3. He said someone found a message scrawled inside an on-site port-a-potty that read, "A bomb will go off downstream on Sept. 3rd." He said "downstream" refers to either a certain area or a stage of construction at the site of the plant.
Sholl said seven different agencies were involved in the search along with three bomb-detection dogs. A spokesperson for the company told Tri States Public Radio that he could not say if construction was halted during the search because he was still gathering information.
The incident in July also halted construction for hours, despite no explosive device being found.
Sholl said materials will be distributed to workers explaining the penalties for making such a threat. He said a reward from the company and the federal ATF is also possible.
Iowa Fertilizer Company's new plant is scheduled to go online before the end of 2015.
