Peoria officials ordered this fast-food restaurant to close. Here's why.

Nick Vlahos, Journal Star
·1 min read
The Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen restaurant at 1800 N. Knoxville Ave. in Peoria is closed until further notice because of a leaky grease tank.
The Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen restaurant at 1800 N. Knoxville Ave. in Peoria is closed until further notice because of a leaky grease tank.

PEORIA — Local health and public-development officials ordered an East Bluff fast-food restaurant to close temporarily.

Inappropriate disposal and storage of used cooking grease resulted in problems at Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, 1800 N. Knoxville Ave., according to Joe Dulin, the city's community development director. The restaurant closed Monday afternoon.

Grease leaked on the restaurant's drive-thru lanes and sidewalks, Dulin said Tuesday. The grease also was on the verge of leaking into a nearby stormwater-retention pond and into the city sewer system.

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The situation violated local plumbing and health codes, according to Dulin.

"It would continue to create a mess outside and create grease everywhere as well," he said. "I think the scope of this is ultimately why we had to shut it down."

A sign from the city of Peoria declares the Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen restaurant at 1800 N. Knoxville Ave. to be "unfit for human habitation" after a grease spill. The eatery is closed temporarily until the issue can be resolved.
A sign from the city of Peoria declares the Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen restaurant at 1800 N. Knoxville Ave. to be "unfit for human habitation" after a grease spill. The eatery is closed temporarily until the issue can be resolved.

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An employee who answered the telephone Tuesday at Popeyes acknowledged the grease-storage problem. She said she wasn't sure when the restaurant would reopen.

The Peoria City/County Health Department is working with Popeyes management regarding next steps, according to Diana Scott, the department's spokeswoman. She did not provide additional details.

Last September, a Popeyes at 103 N. Main St. in East Peoria was ordered closed for a week because of an illegal discharge of grease into a storm sewer. There also was grease accumulation in the restaurant’s municipal sewer line.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria restaurants: Grease leak causes Popeyes on East Bluff to close