Auburndale Names Cannabis Facility Its Only Significant Wastewater Violator

The City of Auburndale has identified a single industrial user as a significant violator of its wastewater pretreatment rules over the past 12 months: the cannabis cultivation and processing complex on Hobbs Road that operates as Insa.

The city published the finding in a legal notice dated Sept. 8, 2026. It names D & D Accounting DBA INSA, 1250 Hobbs Road, Auburndale, as the holder of city industrial wastewater discharge permit IC8919. No other company appears on the list.

The Violation

The notice describes one violation. It is a Technical Review Criteria violation of the molybdenum discharge limitation required under Part 5, paragraph G.1 of the company’s wastewater discharge permit.

A Technical Review Criteria violation is a specific federal threshold, not a single bad sample. Under federal pretreatment regulations, an industrial user crosses into that category when 33 percent or more of all measurements taken for the same pollutant during a six-month period equal or exceed the permit limit multiplied by a set factor.

For metals such as molybdenum, that factor is 1.2. In plain terms, at least a third of the molybdenum readings over a six-month stretch came in at or above 120 percent of what the permit allows.

The city listed four responses. It issued a significant noncompliance status notification and a Notice of Violation, required the company to submit a letter identifying the source of the noncompliance along with a plan of action, and published the notice in the newspaper.

The notice does not disclose the numeric permit limit, the measured concentrations, the sample dates, or whether the company has since returned to compliance.

For residents, the practical question is what happened to the discharge after the Notice of Violation.

The Citrus Tea News requested comment from INSA and submitted a public records request for INSA’s written response and sampling results from the past year, and is awaiting a response.

The Hobbs Road Facility

D & D Accounting Services, LLC does business as Insa and is registered in Florida as a medical marijuana treatment center, according to a licensing disclosure filed with the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission. The same filing lists the Hobbs Road address in Auburndale as a cannabis grower and processor operation. Insa is headquartered in Massachusetts and runs dispensaries across Florida.

Why City Utilities Monitor Molybdenum Levels

Auburndale has operated an industrial pretreatment program since 1988, under its state wastewater permit, which covers the Allred Wastewater Treatment Facility. Program documents filed with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection describe the purpose as protecting the city’s treatment plants, collection system, and employees from industrial impacts and keeping effluent quality and sludge standards within regulatory limits.

Molybdenum levels are monitored because it is one of nine metals carrying a federal ceiling concentration for sewage sludge applied to land, capped at 75 milligrams per kilogram on a dry weight basis. Metals that arrive at a treatment plant in industrial wastewater concentrate in the resulting biosolids. This limits how a utility can dispose of them. Molybdenum is also an essential plant micronutrient tied to nitrogen metabolism and a routine ingredient in commercial fertilizer and hydroponic nutrient formulations.

Potential Recourse for Violations

Auburndale’s code gives the city strong options when violations occur. Under Section 23-30, the director may terminate wastewater service or a discharge permit for violating the pretreatment standards in the same subsection that carries the molybdenum limit, may revoke a permit for failure to meet effluent limitations, and may order an immediate suspension that extends to severing the sewer connection when a discharge threatens public health or would put the city in violation of its own permit.

A Notice of Violation is the ordinary first step, and the code directs that enforcement generally follow the city’s written enforcement response plan, a document the city has not published.

The code also recognizes two defenses an industrial user can raise. An upset is unintentional, temporary noncompliance caused by factors beyond the user’s control, and does not cover operational error or poor maintenance. A bypass is an intentional diversion around treatment. Both require the user to notify the city within 24 hours, and in both cases the user carries the burden of proof.

The Annual Public Notice is a Federal Requirement

Municipalities running an approved pretreatment program must publish, at least once a year, the list of industrial users that were in significant noncompliance at any point during the previous 12 months.

The listing is a mandatory public disclosure. It is not a fine, a criminal charge, or a court finding, and it does not by itself establish that a violation is ongoing.

FAQs

Who did Auburndale name as a wastewater violator?
The city named D & D Accounting DBA INSA, the cannabis cultivation and processing facility at 1250 Hobbs Road, as its only Auburndale wastewater violator in a public notice dated Sept. 8, 2026. No other company appears on the list.

What did INSA do wrong?
The notice cites one violation, a Technical Review Criteria violation of the molybdenum discharge limit in the company’s city wastewater permit, IC8919. The city has not released the specific limit written into that permit.

What is a Technical Review Criteria violation?
It is a federal threshold based on how often and by how much a limit is exceeded, not a single bad sample. For a metal like molybdenum, it means at least a third of the readings taken over a six-month period came in at or above 120 percent of the permit limit.

What did the City of Auburndale do about it?
The city issued a significant noncompliance status notification and a Notice of Violation, required the company to submit a letter identifying the source of the problem along with a plan of action, and published the notice in the newspaper.

Does being on this list mean the company is being fined?
No. The annual list is a public disclosure that federal law requires cities with approved pretreatment programs to publish. It is not a fine, a criminal charge, or a court finding, and it does not establish an ongoing violation.

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Sources: City of Auburndale Public Notice of Significant Noncompliance With Industrial Pretreatment Requirements, September 8, 2026; “Pretreatment Program Requirements: Development and Implementation by POTW,” 40 CFR 403.8, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ecfr.gov; “Standards for the Use or Disposal of Sewage Sludge,” 40 CFR 503.13, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ecfr.gov; City of Auburndale Pretreatment Program Enforcement Response Plan and Annual Report correspondence, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, prodenv.dep.state.fl.us; EPA Facility Registry Service, Auburndale Allred WWTP, NPDES Permit FL0021466, frs-public.epa.gov; Marijuana Retailer License MR282632, I.N.S.A., Inc., Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, masscannabiscontrol.com; “Molybdenum: An Essential Plant Micronutrient,” Michigan State University Cooperative Extension Service; City of Auburndale Planning Commission minutes, March 7, 2023. Ordinance No. 1234, City of Auburndale, March 20, 2006.