Trulieve’s Water Runoff Sparks Controversy in Waukeenah, Florida

Watermelon farms and cattle pastures vanished from Waukeenah, Florida, years ago. Today, the area is recognized for something different: the strong scent of marijuana from a large grow operation operated by Trulieve, a major player in the cannabis industry.

From the beginning of Trulieve’s marijuana harvest in 2020, neighbors expressed concern over the scent, loud machinery, and bright lights disrupting the rural landscape of Jefferson County near Tallahassee. These issues received minimal attention until a video surfaced online.

The video, shared on Facebook this spring, depicted greenish water streaming from Trulieve’s property onto the neighboring land owned by Felicia and James Lamb. Shared by a relative of the Lambs, it galvanized local residents against Trulieve. The company’s chief executive had recently influenced President Trump to reclassify medical marijuana as a less dangerous substance.

“It was shocking to people,” Felicia Lamb remarked about the video. “People had heard about the runoff, but it’s another thing for them to see it.”

Following the video’s release, Jefferson County commission meetings filled with residents troubled by the smell and concerned that water from Trulieve’s extensive indoor cannabis facility was polluting the soil. Trulieve representatives maintained that the water was safe, merely standard runoff that had historically flowed onto the Lamb property before the establishment of their “cultivation campus.”

James and Felicia Lamb stand next to a privacy wall built by Trulieve along their property line.