Newton CIPS Plant Evacuated Briefly This Morning (UPDATE)

An equipment malfunction resulted in a brief evacuation of the Newton CIPS Plant this morning.

AmerenIllinois officials said a boiler feed pump turbine on the #2 generator failed, forcing it off-line.  The #1 generator continued to operate during the incident.

Wade Fire Protection District firefighters and EMS crews accompanied the Jasper County Sheriff's Department to the plant southwest of Newton at 9:15am.  Jasper County Sheriff Ed Francis said the fire department staged outside the plant, but never entered the plant site.  He said no one was injured in the incident.

Employees are back at work and emergency crews cleared the scene at 10:59am.