Tasha Rinaldi drove past several gas stations in Westbrook Friday evening before she found one selling gas at a price she thought she could afford.

“It was $3.39 at Big Apple and $3.69 at Cumberland Farms, so here was the cheapest,” she said of LeClerc’s Citgo on Main Street in Westbrook, where she had to wait in a line of cars that stretched onto the street before filling up.

On Friday afternoon, just before the start of Labor Day weekend, two gas stations on separate sides of Westbrook featured something that hadn’t been seen since the gas crisis of the 1970s – long lines at the pumps. While there were plenty of stations offering gas in the city, LeClerc’s Citgo on Main Street and the Route 302 Getty near Prides Corner had lines because they had the lowest prices at $3.09 a gallon, a gas price that seemed unfathomable just a year ago.

Tasha Rinaldi of Westbrook said she stopped at LeClerc’s after seeing the rising gas prices along Main Street. “I drove up (Main Street) and all the way up, it was $3.39 at Big Apple and $3.69 at Cumberland Farms, so here was the cheapest,” she said.

While filling up her van at LeClerc’s, Janet Littlefield of Gorham said she watched gas prices rise on service station signs as she drove to and from work throughout the day. “It was $2.99 this morning at Irving on Route 25, and now it’s $3.59,” she said. “It was $2.99 at 8:00 this morning. On my way back home at 11, it was $3.15, and on my way back into town, it was $3.59.”

Across the river on Route 302, it was the same story. Drivers were stopping at the Getty station because it offered the lowest prices in the area. Brenda Gile of Windham was on her way home from work and was watching the prices along the road. “I was just down the street, and it was up really high so I came here,” said Gile.

Gas prices rose sharply last week as the oil companies began to react to Hurricane Katrina. The sudden upswing in prices came as an abrupt shock to drivers as gas prices rose 40 to 50 cents in one day, and long lines began to form on Wednesday as drivers tried to fill their tanks at the lowest possible price.

At BJ’s Warehouse Club on Warren Avenue in Portland, police were called out Wednesday evening to direct traffic as cars were flowing into the store to fill up on gas, which was being sold at a discounted price to BJ’s members. By 5:30 p.m., the store was forced to place a sign out front informing drivers that the gas pumps had temporarily closed because the station had run out of gas.

The rapid price increase angered local drivers, some of whom felt the oil companies were trying to profit from a disaster.

“There’s no reason for it,” said Janet Littlefield’s husband, Larry Littlefield. “It’s gouging. They’re using the hurricane as an excuse. I’m not saying they didn’t need to shut the oil platforms down, but they had to shut them down in the past and we didn’t have a spike like this. It just doesn’t make sense, and I don’t see President Bush stepping in to do anything about it.”

Littlefield was not alone in his feelings. “It’s getting ridiculous,” said Jim Campbell of Windham. “All they’re doing is making money hand over fist. They say it’s the refineries; it isn’t the refineries. They are just making money on a national crisis.”

Larry Littlefield was especially frustrated at the wide range of prices at gas stations in the area. “I’m trying to figure out how one station can charge $3.09 and another charge $3.69,” he said.

Roger LeClerc, who owns the Citgo station on Main Street, said local gas station owners have very little control over the cost at the pump. He said the price of gas at his station is dictated by what he will be charged for it.

“My next load is coming in tomorrow morning and I’ve already been informed what is going to be charged to me, and this price is going to take a hike another 20 or 30 cents,” he said. “When my price goes up, I have to go up.”

LeClerc’s prediction proved to be true, on Tuesday morning, gas prices at his station were up by 30 cents, to $3.39 a gallon.

While drivers said they couldn’t completely change their driving habits because they still have to commute to work, gas prices have certainly made them take another look at their driving habits. “You still have to get back and forth to work,” said Gile.

“It’s aggravating to me,” Greg Swift of Casco said as he filled up alongside Route 302. “It’s killing my budget. I’ve still got to commute – I live in Casco and I work in Westbrook. There’s not much I can do to avoid it.”

Chris Drew of Westbrook said $3-a-gallon gas also hadn’t yet changed his driving habits. “Not quite yet, but it’s going to soon,” he said. “It just seems kind of ludicrous that it’s going up as fast as it is.”

Rinaldi said the gas prices have changed the way she runs her business. “I don’t go anywhere,” said Rinaldi. “I run a daycare, so I usually do day trips, but forget it.”

Mark Graham of Westbrook stopped at LeClerc’s on Friday to fill up. He said so far he hasn’t changed the way he gets to and from work, but he said the price of gas would probably factor into his plans for the long weekend.

“I was going to head up country,” he said. “Maybe we can do some carpooling.”

While the federal government has pledged to release some of the nation’s oil reserves to help ease gas prices, drivers said they had no faith that prices would go down anytime soon.

“I’m sure everybody’s still making their profits, especially the oil companies,” said Graham. “I don’t know what can be done.

As she finished filling her tank and got ready to head home, Janet Littlefield seemed resigned to the fact that high gas prices were here to stay.

“I don’t see it going down,” she said. “We’re paying the price now, so why bother bringing it down.”

A spike in gas prices last week brought gas lines back to the area. On Friday afternoon, cars lined up at LeClerc’s Citgo station on Main Street to fill up at $3.09 a gallon. Drivers said that was the lowest price in the area.Mark Champagne of Westbrook holds up a $100 bill to pay for gas to fill up his truck at LeClerc’s Citgo on Friday afternoon. While he didn’t need to use all of the $100, Champagne came close, spending $72 for a fillup.Greg Swift of Casco doesn’t like what he sees as he fills his tank at the Getty station on Route 302. Swift, who commutes from Casco to Westbrook every day said the high price of gas was “killing his budget.”In search of the lowest possible gas prices, drivers line up at the Getty station on Route 302 on Friday.

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