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Residents press TrueLeaf on odors, runoff and property impacts; county seeks independent testing
Summary
At a Jefferson County Board meeting, residents told commissioners they regularly smell emissions and reported stormwater runoff from the TrueLeaf cultivation campus. Company officials said recent tests met state standards; commissioners and the manager committed to pursue mitigation, independent testing options and a May 21 follow-up.
Jefferson County commissioners heard more than two hours of public concern about odors, noise and stormwater runoff from the TrueLeaf cultivation campus at a special meeting where company officials described recent engineering fixes and testing results.
The meeting opened with a county manager review of the project's permitting history and a presentation by TrueLeaf executives and outside consultants. Christine Hersey, TrueLeaf's chief corporate affairs and strategy officer, told the board the company "takes our responsibility very seriously" and said TrueLeaf conducts third-party product testing and follows state regulatory requirements. She said the campus employs roughly 270 people locally and is part of a larger multistate operator.
Commissioners and residents pressed TrueLeaf for concrete, enforceable steps. "I want to hear a clear commitment and a concrete plan that's going to fix these problems," a commissioner told the company, saying clean air and water "are not negotiable." Residents described smelling the facility "two or three times a week," hearing continuous rooftop mechanical noise and noticing runoff they said reached neighboring properties and damaged landscaping and property values.
TrueLeaf and its technical consultant, civil engineer Bridal Stevens, outlined recent stormwater work. Stevens described permit modifications and added features, including sedimentation basins and a sand filter, and said the Suwannee River Water Management District inspected the site and required corrections after a March visit. "We have not had any stormwater violations at the Jefferson County site," Stevens said, and company representatives said they had conducted on-site discharge sampling on April 17 with preliminary results "below detection or within state surface-water standards." Stevens described ongoing maintenance: sediment removal from ponds and replacement of sand-filter media.
Several residents challenged whether the sand-filter approach removes dissolved nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates, and engineers acknowledged sand filters alone do not remove all dissolved nutrients and require regular maintenance. At least one resident requested independent well and groundwater testing; several urged the county to secure a neutral third-party lab to test discharge and private wells.
The county manager said the board would explore options to go "above and beyond" minimum legal requirements, including seeking additional odor- and noise-control technologies and arranging independent testing. The manager and company also discussed planning to invite state regulators to a subsequent meeting; the board indicated it expects a follow-up to report progress on mitigation and testing (the county suggested May 21 for a return visit and additional speakers).
The meeting captured a sharp divide between residents who said the campus has harmed living conditions and some local employees who urged patience and said they expect the company to improve operations. County officials emphasized they must work within the jurisdictional divisions among state regulators (Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Suwannee River Water Management District and the Department of Health) while exploring additional local remedies.
The board did not take formal regulatory action at the meeting beyond committing to follow up; commissioners asked staff to provide a point of contact and to return with a plan that could include independent water testing and further mitigation options.
