George P. Ahearn, Phd
Co-founder and Former President and CEO
GEO Specialty Chemicals, Inc.

…

The Florida fracking debate in that state’s legislature has been one unending demonstration of the truth in that Gumpian adage; “stupid is as stupid does.”

Sometimes, I wonder that when people reach such a high level of achievement in politics, they seem to lose all their common sense and appear to become more stupid. This has been very apparent since our current Florida legislators have been in session, and they now want to approach the fracking ban issue, most of which they know nothing about.

Stupid is as stupid does?

State Senator Dana Young R-Tampa used a sample of eroded limestone known as “karst” to illustrate to the Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee members why a ban was necessary. She said the method was “incompatible with the geology of our state.”

Well, for the record karst is actually the landscape of areas over which limestone and dolomite are the existing geology, but has nothing to do with the state of the geology 1-3 miles below the surface where all the frac jobs are performed. Nevertheless, it is the pitch that counts.

Young said of fracking, “There may be some uncertainty about the issue, but the question is do you want to roll the dice”. Brilliant! Young’s bill unanimously passed the Committee; one down, two to go. This is the same logic that the town of Bonita Springs used to pass its ordinance to ban the process.

And get this, let’s ban it and then do a study to see if it’s bad for Florida geology. How’s that for good logic? By the way, the geology of Florida makes it well suited for oil and gas production. In fact, we’ve done it for 70 years without an incident.

Also, counties and municipalities have been using acid stimulation jobs to restore and enhance the productivity of their drinking water wells for years, and the legislators now plan to prohibit the counties from using the same technique for these wells. Are you beginning to get the drift of this flawed logic?

Fracking is apparently evil because environmental groups say it is. Have you ever read anything good about fracking in the newspaper? If you read the articles, countless reporters use the space to tell you how evil the oil industry is and how we are on a rapid path to Armageddon. However, the issue is not really fracking, it’s the elimination of fossil fuels that is the real objective.

Anti-gas activists fear that we have developed energy technology to the point we are now self-sufficient and a dominant producer of cheaper, cleaner, natural gas, and have made renewables even less competitive in recent years.

Here in Florida, however, we pay 3-5 times less for electric power than states that have banned fracking, like New York. Prices will continue to drop as we install more pipeline capacity to bring that cheap gas from the Marcellus, Bakken, and Permian Basin shale deposits, as more utilities convert to natural gas. Why do you think these environmental groups fund massive demonstrations, whenever a new pipeline is announced?

When newspapers describe fracking they say, “it is a method that pumps water and acid in the ground to extract oil and gas.” However, a typical frac fluid contains 99.2% water, 0.5% of a food additive thickening agent, and low concentrations of maybe 3-5 other functional chemicals, only .07% of which is a weak organic acid used as a component of the fluid.

The acid, in fact, is much weaker than the acid in your stomach. Also, about 70-80% of the fluid is recovered and can be reused. There is nothing mysterious or evil about a frac fluid, but as they say, it’s all about the perception you create. Activists, politicians, and the media are good at creating perceptions. They’re not so good at producing energy we all need or making sense. “Stupid is as stupid does” was never more accurate.

George P. Ahearn was the co-founder and President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of GEO Specialty Chemicals, Inc. from its inception in 1993 until he left in 2005. The company specializes in water treatment, additives, and chemical process aids.  Prior to that time, he was President and Chief Operating Officer of the Hall Chemical Company, a maker of specialty metal-based chemicals from 1988-1992.  Mr. Ahearn was employed for 28 years by Exxon Corporation and Exxon Chemical from 1960-1988, holding various executive positions in research and the business.He was appointed in 2014 to the Board of Directors of Economic Incubators, Inc., a joint venture between Collier County and Enterprise Florida a business accelerator to assist the growth of entrepreneurial companies in the area.