protect the great trading path

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Studies show that emissions from just 200 running vehicles can create harmful conditions for breathing. Buc-ee’s, attracting an estimated 25,000 daily visitors, will turn into an air pollution hot-spot. This location, situated along the historic Occaneechi Path, is surrounded by multiple schools, a church, and low-income neighborhoods, which are already struggling with heavy air pollution from semi-truck emissions and Stericycle, a medical waste incinerator. 

Furthermore, just 10 gallons of petroleum has the potential to contaminate up to 12 million gallons of water. Buc-ee’s plans to store hundreds of thousands of gallons of petroleum and hazardous chemicals underground, posing a risk of these contaminants leaching into the soil, drinking water sources, and the fragile Back Creek of the Haw River Watershed, jeopardizing efforts in cultural heritage preservation.

In 2017, a Texas court ruled Buc-ee’s repayment provisions in its employment agreements were illegal, likening them to “indentured servitude.” Hundreds of employee ratings on popular job websites like Indeed and Glassdoor rank the chain lower than most major corporations, even worse than Amazon. As local shops struggle to keep the lights on in our corporate-driven, globalized economy, the impact of Buc-ee’s inescapable billboards and cheap trinkets draws visitors away from downtown. This is particularly concerning for cultural heritage preservation along the Occaneechi Path, as one elder put it: “when tourists are shopping at Buc-ee’s, they’re not shopping in Mebane.”