Massachusetts gas station drains tanks due to high prices

AMHERST, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - As the pain at the pump keeps getting worse, a gas station owner in Massachusetts is taking a stand against the unprecedented hike in prices.

“It’s hard enough for people to put groceries on their table after working in the factory or wherever they work for 30-40 hours a week and not be able to put gas in their car and get to work. I don’t want to be part of that,” Ren’s Mobil owner Reynold Gladu said.

The Ren’s Mobil gas and service station has been serving the community since the 1970s, but with fuel close to $5 per gallon, the owner decided to pump the brakes on gas sales.

Cardboard signs that read “Out of Gas” are taped to the pumps outside of the stations.

Gladu explained to Western Mass News what led him to finally drain the tanks.

“Two weeks ago they came in on a Friday, they came in and said they put the price up 20 cents,” he said. “The following day, which was a Saturday, they said gas is up another 20 cents. Right off the bat, bells went off in my head. I said, ‘How can it go up 40 cents in less than 24 hours?’”

He said he couldn’t do that to his customers, while gas companies like Mobil benefit.

“There’s no justifying that. It’s the same gas that was in the ground that they’re just making extra money on,” Gladu said.

Gladu said he will continue to service cars and keep his business open as long as he can, but he refuses to be part of the problem.

“I will continue to operate this that belongs to me, not Mobil, but myself as an individual, and if people want to have their cars serviced I will be happy to do it,” explained Gladu.

Gladu also shared what Mobil would have to do in order for him to bring gas back to his station.

“Them to consider stop robbing the public. And that’s what it is, highway robbery,” Gladu said.

Exxon Mobil said in a statement that they do not own or operate retail fuel stations in the U.S.

“Service stations are individually owned and price their fuel based on local market competition and other business factors,” the company said in part in a released statement.

Copyright 2022 Western Mass News via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.