AC repair inBrunswick, GA

BRUNSWICK, Ga — Buc-ee’s, the gas station/ travel center known for having clean bathrooms, fresh food, and a friendly beaver, is breaking ground on its new travel center in Brunswick, Georgia, on Monday, January 29 at 10:00 a.m.

Action News Jax first told you about this development back in July 2022 when economic leaders in Glynn County have confirmed to WTOC in Savannah that they approved plans for a large travel center off Exit 42 (Georgia State Road 99) on Interstate 95.

Read: Buc-ee’s in Brunswick: Could the mega gas station be coming to Southeast Georgia?

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

Buc-ee’s Brunswick will be the third Buc-ee’s location in Georgia.

The new location will be at 7156 Hwy 99 and 1-95 & State Hwy 99, Brunswick GA, Buc-ee’s Brunswick will occupy 74,000 square feet and offer 120 fueling positions.

Favorites of the famous beaver include Buc-ee’s Texas barbeque, homemade fudge, kolaches, Beaver Nuggets, jerky and fresh pastries will all be available.

Visitors will find thousands of snack, meal and drink options, as well as the same award-winning restrooms, cheap gas, quality products and excellent service that have won the hearts, trust and business of millions in the South for over 40 years.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

Founded in Texas in 1982, Buc-ee’s operates 47 stores across Texas and the South. Since beginning its multi-state expansion in 2019, Buc-ee’s has opened travel centers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Missouri, and Tennessee.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

“Brunswick is a natural stop between our Florida and South Carolina locations on a stretch of interstate near the beautiful Georgia coastline,” said Stan Beard of Buc-ee’s. “The community has welcomed us with open arms, and we are excited to finally get started here.”

Buc-ee’s Brunswick will bring more than 200 full-time jobs to the area, with starting pay beginning well above minimum wage, full benefits, a 6% matching 401k, and three weeks of paid vacation.

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Wawa is kicking off its entry into the Peach State with a double-groundbreaking event that’s happening Thursday, March 7 in Southeast Georgia.

The events will be happening at the future locations at US 341 & Community Road in Brunswick at 9 a.m.; and 356 West Orange Street in Jesup at 1 p.m., according to a news release from the company.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

Wawa is known for offering a full menu of hoagies, wraps, burritos, and more. Currently, the closest stores to Georgia are the locations in Jacksonville.

Wawa said the two events will “provide an update on expansion plans both locally and in additional Georgia markets, showcase local investments and job opportunities, and connect the company with new friends, neighbors, customers, local officials, and charity partners.”

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

Action News Jax told you last week about Glynn County permit records showing the site in Brunswick at 4330 New Jesup Highway.

We also told you about plans to open a location in Pooler, which is west of Savannah.

City leaders there approved zoning and site plans for the location, FOX28 in Savannah reports.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Other locations in Georgia are planned for Hinesville, and Bainbridge, according to USA Today. It’s unclear when those stores will break ground.

It’s all part of Wawa’s plan to open more than 70 new stores in 2024, “including first stores in three new states of Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina.”

The first Wawa opened in 1964 in the Philadelphia area.

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.

Buy Now

Buc-ee's real estate rep Stan Beard made the announcement at Tuesday's development authority meeting.

Buy Now

The worst kept secret in the Golden Isles was finally made public at Tuesday’s Golden Isles Development Authority meeting.

A Buc-ee’s travel center is coming to the Interstate 95 interchange at Exit 42.

Gordon Jackson

More from this section

The specialty rosin and polyterpene resins facility that once stood several stories tall at Pinova is now an empty space in the middle of the 152-acre facility surrounded by what seems to be arbitrary piles of rubble.

The Olmsted Plein Air Invitational is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a week-long event in Atlanta with 29 top tier artists from California, Texas, Maryland, Florida, Georgia and other states.

If there was ever a year to heed the Glynn County Emergency Management Agency’s warnings to be prepared for hurricane season, this is it, officials warn.

Brunswick’s Planning and Appeals Commission dealt with a unique zoning situation at its Wednesday meeting: How to handle a request to subdivide one 16,200-square-foot lot on which six shotgun houses were built more than 100 years ago.

Carmaker INEOS has chosen the Port of Brunswick, Georgia, to deliver its new Grenadier off-road SUV to markets across the U.S. Southeast.

“We are happy to welcome INEOS and the Grenadier to Georgia,” said Griff Lynch, president and CEO of the Georgia Ports Authority. “Brunswick’s central location and superior connectivity, combined with the ease of doing business in Georgia, make it the perfect gateway for the U.S. launch of this exciting new vehicle.”

Presently, 19 dealers across the country are slated to handle the high-end SUV, which INEOS describes as purpose-built for consumers who are passionate about off-roading. Southern U.S. sales locations include Atlanta, GA; Ft. Lauderdale and St. Petersburg, FL; Houston and Dallas, TX; and High Point, NC.

INEOS is a global chemical company with 36 businesses at 194 sites in 29 countries throughout the world. Its consumer brands also include INEOS Hygienics and British fashion label Belstaff. The Grenadier is the company’s first foray into auto manufacturing.

The company joins two dozen other auto manufacturers at Colonel’s Island. The 1,700-acre terminal provides immediate access to Interstate 95, and from there, I-10 and I-16.

“We have selected the Port of Brunswick as our strategic gateway to the East Coast to cover customer volume along the major cities across the region. Brunswick represents our tactical and geographical preferred location to cover our sales distribution network,” said Gabriel Pernia, planning and logistics director at INEOS Automotive Americas. “The port provides an extensive capacity for vehicle storage, processing and maritime cargo which helps to minimize total transit time and improve customer order deliveries.”

Assembled in France, the vehicles will be shipped from Belgium to global markets including the U.S., Australia, Europe and South Africa. Starting in the first quarter of 2024, INEOS plans to enter the Canadian market and, by midyear, Mexico. Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics is handling freight forwarding for INEOS.

Learn more about the INEOS Grenadier here.

GPA is expanding capacity to serve growing Ro/Ro cargo volumes by investing $260 million in Colonel’s Island at the Port of Brunswick, developing 640,000 square feet of new processing space and 122 acres of additional auto storage.

“At Georgia Ports, we are committed to building the best gateways for U.S. supply chains, including those of our Roll-on/Roll-off customers,” Lynch said. He noted the size of Colonel’s Island Terminal allows on-site auto processing, for services such as accessory installation.

The nation’s second busiest hub for Ro/Ro cargo, the Port of Brunswick recently received federal approval to add a fourth berth at Colonel’s Island. The project will more efficiently accommodate larger vessels with a capacity of 7,000-plus vehicles that are becoming the industry standard at U.S. gateways.

About Georgia Ports: Georgia’s ports and inland terminals support more than 561,000 jobs throughout the state annually, and contribute $33 billion in income, $140 billion in revenue and $3.8 billion in state and local taxes to Georgia’s economy. CNBC ranked Georgia #1 in the U.S. for infrastructure in America’s Top States for Business in 2023.

GPA is investing in future supply chains with a $1.9 billion port master plan and a $6 million workforce housing initiative. The Port of Savannah is grateful and fortunate to have one of the most extensive, industry-leading supply chain ecosystems through our business partners operating near the port that serve the logistics needs of thousands of customers and ensure long-term competitiveness, business resiliency and future growth capabilities. For more information, visit gaports.com or contact Tom Boyd at [email protected] or call (912) 964-3855.

Primary Content

Credit: The Current

Mary Landers, The Current

Glynn County Commissioner Allen Booker grew up in public housing just a block away from the Pinova/Hercules chemical plant in Brunswick, he told community members who gathered Tuesday to hear preliminary results of a study of chemical exposure in the area, which is home to four Superfund sites.

Credit: Mary Landers/The Current

“This was not something far off for me. This was personal, like it is for many of you,” he said. “And I participated in the study. And so it was an eye-opener.”

The study results showed that blood levels of several chemicals known to have polluted the local environment were higher in study participants than in the average American. Among them were certain polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs, and components of the pesticide toxaphene. Both sets of chemicals were produced at nearby factories and the production of both was banned decades ago.

Noah Scovronick, assistant professor in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and a co-leader of the study said one question from the local community was driving the work:

“What does it mean to live and to grow up and to raise their families near these sites? Are they affecting people’s exposure to hazardous chemicals?”

The average age of the 100 participants, all adults, was 60 years. About two-thirds were women and a little less than half, 46, were Black. Importantly, they were all long-term residents, having lived there an average of 47 years.

The researchers invited the public to the meeting after first informing the participants of their individual results confidentially in writing. Some of the 150 or so people who filled the community center at Howard Coffin Park identified themselves as study partipants.

Researchers analyzed the blood samples for contaminants including lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, and PCBs, including unique PCBs produced only at what is now the LCP Chemicals Superfund site, which is managed by Honeywell International Inc. They also tested pesticides that have been banned but persist in the environment, including a component of DDT and of toxaphene, which was also once produced at Hercules. Finally, they tested for PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, so called “forever chemicals” used in a variety of products including firefighting foam.

The most striking finding came in the PCBs. The study tested for seven different PCBs, including four found commonly in the U.S. population. The other three are part of a brand name chemical called Aroclor 1268, one of the pollutants of local concern produced at the LCP chemical site in Brunswick.

“(PCBS) are man-made chemicals that were used in electrical equipment like capacitors and transformers, as well as in things like hydraulic fluids, heat transfer, fluid, lubricants, and plasticizers,” Scovronick said. ” … PCBs may affect the immune, reproductive, hormone and nervous systems, and there have been links with cancer.”

Study participants had lower levels of the common PCBs — PCB 118, PCB 138, PCB 152 and PCB 180 — than the average American. But they had higher levels of PCBs that are components of the locally produced Aroclor 168. For PCB 206, which makes up the largest percentage of Aroclor 1268, the study average of 50 parts per trillion was more than twice the American average of 18 parts per trillion. Additionally, about 40% of the participants tested at very high levels, above that seen in 95 percent of the U.S. population.

Average toxaphene levels were also higher in study participants than in the average Canadian, but not dramatically higher. However, about a quarter of the study participants did have very high levels, above that seen in 95% of the Canadians studied. Scovronick cautioned toxaphene exposure is not well studied, making the results more difficult to interpret. The comparison to Canadian averages was necessary because the only available study on toxaphene levels was done in Canada.

Study participants had about the same blood levels of two of three metals tested — lead, and mercury — as the average American. Cadmium levels were a little higher in the study participants, but some participants smoked cigarettes, a known source of cadium exposure, so “it’s not something that at this point has set off alarm bells for us,” Scovronick said.

Credit: Mary Landers/The Current

The researchers also tested 25 samples for PFAS, adding this test after realizing that a study done of Sapelo Islanders showed high levels of PFAS and also because local fires have been put out with firefighting foam, which contains the chemical. Because each test requires a certain volume of blood, only 25 of the participants had enough of a sample remaining to complete this test. Levels were about the same as in the average American, though two samples tested very high.

Booker, the executive director of Rebuilding Together of Glynn County, helped get the ball rolling on the study by partnering with other community groups to hear residents’ concerns about living in a county with a long legacy of industrial pollution.

Along with the four Superfund sites, the county also has 16 other toxic waste sites, Booker said.

Like Booker, other residents have seen family members die from cancer and pulmonary diseases and wondered if chemical contamination was the cause and if they were at risk, too.

The study, funded through a pilot grant from Emory University’s NIH-supported Exposome Research Center, has not yet been peer reviewed, though the researchers expect to go through that process over the next 12-18 months. Scovronick also listed a number of study caveats at the outset of the public meeting.

The study cannot answer when or how an exposure occurred, or what exactly the exposure means for a person’s health, Scovronick explained.

“So even if somebody tests high for a particular chemical, we can’t tell you whether it was because you ate seafood, or whether it was because you worked at one of these sites or whether there was some other way you may have been exposed,” he said. “And the other thing is that we did not collect information on health impacts on any diseases that people may be experiencing. The study is not about whether the exposures are actually causing health problems.”

Next steps include Emory University doctors organizing webinars for health care providers in Brunswick. Attendees can learn about how they should be thinking about their patients who may be exposed to some of these chemicals.

The nonprofit Coastal Community Health is already well versed in these issues and has opened a clinic in downtown Brunswick, convenient for many of those who partipated in the study, said CEO Dr. Kavanaugh Chandler, who emphasized the importance of affordable health care.

“Let’s just say hypothetically you were exposed,” he said. “Your lifespan could be extended if you just got basic care.”

Credit: Mary Landers/The Current

Along with Coastal Community Health and Rebuilding Together of Glynn County, other community groups involved in the study include the Environmental Justice Advisory Board, One Hundred Miles, Glynn Environmental Coalition, UGA Marine Extension, Coastal Equity and Resilience Hub and the Community First Planning Commission.

Community groups are already working to reduce exposures to pollutants through education, including seafood advisories which note the types and locations of Glynn County fish and shellfish most likely to be contaminated as well as how much is safe to eat.

The Emory researchers intend to expand the study and are preparing to seek funding.

“If we did a complete study on 500 people that looked at these and other exposures and included health outcomes, and in depth questionnaires it would cost in the ballpark of a $1 million or more,” Scovronick said.

That’s exactly what study participants like Anita Collins want to see.

“I participated in this because it needs to be done and there needs to be more where you have a larger number of people, because so many of us we grew up right there by Hercules,” she said.

This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with The Current.

Tags: Georgia coastal georgia environment pollution superfund sites

Secondary Content

About the authors

Author

Mary Landers covers Coastal Georgia’s environment for The Current, a topic she covered for nearly 24 years at the Savannah Morning News, where she began and ended her time there writing about health, including most recently focusing on the pandemic. She’s adept at telling the stories of everyone from jellyfish fishers to pipeline protesters. Mary is a former Peace Corps Volunteer in Malawi, where she taught environmental science at Lake Malawi National Park. As a reporter in Georgia, she’s won numerous investigative reporting awards as well as the Larry Peterson Investigative Journalism Award.