Environment

Buc-ee’s drawing opposition from environmental advocates

July 28, 2025July 28, 2025

By David Pendered

July 28 – Buc-ee’s is a cultural phenomenon that’s drawing opposition for being just too big, and now Georgians who advocate for sea turtles have joined the critics.

In Georgia, turtle advocates say sea turtle hatchlings on Little St. Simons Island are endangered by the high-masted lights installed at the I-95 exit to the Buc’ee’s convenience store and fuel station that opened July 1 in Brunswick, according to a report in The Brunswick News.

The Buc-ee’s in Leeds, Ala. is representative of the expansive retail and fuel depot that the Texas-based chain is developing around the nation. (Credit: David Pendered_

The lights from exit 42 are visible 12 miles away, on Little St. Simons Island, the story notes. The concern is that baby turtles will die as they crawl from their nests along the beach toward the lights rather than heading for the ocean, to which they’re naturally attracted by the brightness of the horizon over the water and white crests of waves.

The high-masted lights at the exit were installed by the Georgia Department of Transportation to illuminate the exit. According to a report in The Current, GDOT has indicated the future of the high-masted lights will be evaluated later this year, following the installation of street lights at the exit.

Meanwhile, an environmental battle over a proposed Buc-ee’s south of Denver has drawn ire from those who bemoan the loss of open lands to development. The chairman of Liberty Media and its affiliates, John Malone, is among those who oppose the Buc-ee’s proposed in Palmer Lake, Co. Malone said it would further the disappearance of the Old West.

In a North Carolina town west of Raleigh, Mebane environmental advocates compiled and released a report to buttress their claims that the planned Buc-ee’s could be an environmental hazard – “Buc-ee’s Burden: How Mega Gas Stations Hurt Community Health And Wealth.”

In some regards, the concerns being raised harken to those when Walmart was in its expansion phase. Some complaints were that the proposed Walmart stores were too big, would change the way people shopped in mom and pop stores, and would disrupt community traditions.

For comparison, some Buc-ee’s have more than 200 fuel pumps and retail space of some 75,000 square feet. That’s as much as twice the size of a typical Walmart neighborhood store, of 30,000 to 40,000 square feet.