For the second time in a month, residents crowded into Jefferson County commission chambers to hear how local and state officials will address mounting concerns surrounding Trulieve’s gigantic indoor grow facility and its impact on the rural community.
On hand were representatives with the state’s Department of Environmental Protection and the Suwanee River Water Management District — two agencies that have put the medical marijuana titan on notice for possible permit violations linked to storm-water management, contaminants, erosion and more.
James Lamb, who lives next door to Trulieve’s massive grow site, kickstarted the wave of attention when he filed complaints with the state agencies after years of seeing water discharged onto his property. When a water district management official explained when it investigates water quality volume, residents were told it’s a matter of duration and amount that can cause impacts.
“It’s not a 100-year storm that’s flooding me. I’m experiencing a flood in the middle of a historic drought,” Lamb said, regarding water pouring onto his property. “As far as the water runoff two days ago, there was about 2,000 gallons a minute coming down the hill and all afternoon.”
Lamb, who said he’s documented massive water erosion and impacts to his land, said he’s measured and described it as “pretty considerable.”
Florida DEP official said there’s no apparent polluntants to private wells
Trulieve’s grow facility in Monticello was pushed into the spotlight after a growing number of residents and elected officials voiced fears the facility may be contaminating water, creating erosion and causing nuisance issues from the constant hum and strong odor.
Residents were given at-home water testing kits by the state’s Department of Health. Last month, the Jefferson County Commission held a special meeting to hear community complaints. Trulieve officials were on hand to field questions and made commitments to investigate ways to mitigate some of the issues raised.
Trulieve, the state’s largest medical marijuana producer, leading producer nationwide and Jefferson County’s largest employer, stands by its operations and contends it’s done nothing wrong, based on its responses to the agencies and internal memorandums.
During the meeting, John Truitt, Florida DEP secretary of regulatory programs, said the state’s health department has jurisdiction over private wells. He said the health department had samples from a few private wells that showed no signs of contamination.
“I know they’ve done two, to my knowledge. What they informed me, again I can’t speak to their results. I don’t know when they were taken,” Truitt said. “I’m just saying information was relayed to me that there were no impacts to those wells.”
No Trulieve officials were present at Thursday’s meeting. Steve Vancore, a spokesman for Trulieve, provided a statement to the Tallahassee Democrat on May 22 saying DEP’s position was confirmation.
“We are pleased that the state Department of Environmental Protection has confirmed what we have stated all along — that the water coming from our site is clean and has zero contaminants,” he said, in a text to the Democrat.
Jefferson County Administrator Ron Russo explained the role of the county, which has limited power in regards to enforcement matters related to Trulieve. In 2019, the county approved Trulieve’s site plan and a provision for noise and odor control, which would be controlled through a “landscape buffer, as well as carbon filters on the exhaust vents on the building.”
Russo said the county has no enforcement over water runoff or water and air quality.
“The county’s ability to regulate medical marijuana cultivation facilities is heavily limited by state law, specifically Section 380 1.9 86 border statute, which preempts regulation of cultivation, processing, and delivery of marijuana by medical marijuana treatment centers, pursuant to state law,” Russo said, in a prepared statement to the audience. “If the county violates an express preemption, it could be found liable for damages and attorney fees.”
He said the county has no authority to inspect or enter Trulieve’s grow facility in Monticello without the company’s permission. Russo said the state, however, has the authority to conduct special inspections and “take appropriate enforcement actions when necessary.”
More background on complaints over Trulieve’s facility and next steps
Leroy Marshall, chief professional engineer and director of resource management at the Suwannee River Water Management District, said the first documented complaint was reported October 2023.
At the time, he said, staff went on to Trulieve’s site and found “there was an issue with the pond.” A notice of complaint was later issued in March 2024.
“We dealt with them for about a month and had them redesign the pond and sign a compliance agreement that was done in April 2024,” Marshall said.
Marshall said another complaint was submitted in August 2025 to the Water Management District by Lamb, “who said he was still seeing problems out there.”
“I can say we are working with Trulieve to address whatever issues anyone had,” Marshall said.
Marshall also said the district and Trulieve representatives met this month regarding issues presented in the non-compliance notice. The agency will now assess whether any penalties will be made against the company and draft a compliance agreement “that will have terms and conditions of things we want them to complete and a penalty.”
“They are going to respond to that notice of complaint. Typically, we ask that they pay the penalty in 60 days,” Marshall said. “Then we have due dates for all of the stuff that needs to happen … What we will probably do in the compliance agreement is state that it has be issued by a certain date and the construction needs to happen by a certain date.”
Contact Economic Development Reporter TaMaryn Waters at tlwaters@tallahassee.com and follow @TaMarynWaters on X.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: State officials address concerns on Trulieve’s Monticello grow facility
Reporting by TaMaryn Waters, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
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