When Springfield announced mid-January that the city would be installing its first Buc-ee’s, a Texas-based gas station and travel convenience store, action was immediately taken for and against the proposition.

The announcement came just two weeks prior to the city council vote, which some suspected was an attempt to leave the public with no time to take action.

However, the news spread quickly, and social media campaign “Dam Up Buc-ee’s” helped to organize a protest outside City Hall, which took place on the day of the vote, January 24th.

The proposed gas station will have several effects that would potentially have a significant impact on the local ecosystem and resources, namely, pollution of Springfield’s Fulbright Watershed. Those opposed cite these, as well as a lack of social benefit, as reasons the city government should reject the bill. 

Those in favor of Buc-ee’s, however, are incentivized by economic opportunity and the popularity that comes with such a well-known company. The support of the bill comes with anticipation that many new jobs will be created, and more travelers will visit Springfield, bringing in more revenue.

Drury junior and environmentalist Danny Behlmann participated in the protest in late January, alongside other eco-conscious Drury students, as well as local members of the nationwide Party for Socialism and Liberation. Both of these groups made up much of the attendance at the protest.

“The Buc-ee’s is supposed to be built just uphill of a water mill, which supplies up to anywhere between 14% to 17% of Springfield residents’ water,” Behlmann said. “And that includes Drury. So it’s threatening our water.”

Behlmann and like-minded Drury students also had grievances with the amount of money used, insisting the area has priorities that are more pressing than establishing the new gas station.

“This [will be] built with money that had been collected over ten years,” Behlmann said. ”That was supposed to be used for infrastructure development. And building a giant gas station is not infrastructure.”

Unfortunately for protestors, the city council signed the bill with a vote of 7-2. The two opposing votes came from Councilpersons Angela Romine and Mike Schilling. Schilling had previously stated he was specifically concerned with the environmental impact.

Romine and Schilling are both representatives from northern Springfield, which has long had much more poverty and disparity than the southern half. Buc-ee’s will be built on I-44 and Mulroy Road, which affects Romine and Schilling’s constituents more directly than those on the south side.

In spite of the quick turnaround, Behlmann hopes efforts by Springfield residents to protest are continued. 

“People who don’t know what’s going on need to be told it’s going on because this all happened very fast,” Behlmann said.

Story by Gisele Ortega and Julia Chamberlain