diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5e1cd0b..278538d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+## Fixes
+- Column `description` fields are now correctly escaped in `generate_model_yaml` ([#142](https://github.com/dbt-labs/dbt-codegen/issues/142))
+
 # dbt-codegen v0.11.0
 
 ## 🚨 Breaking change
diff --git a/dbt_project.yml b/dbt_project.yml
index 91dfcf1..4ee4e03 100644
--- a/dbt_project.yml
+++ b/dbt_project.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-name: 'codegen'
-version: '0.5.0'
+name: "codegen"
+version: "0.5.0"
 
 require-dbt-version: [">=1.1.0", "<2.0.0"]
 config-version: 2
diff --git a/integration_tests/dbt_project.yml b/integration_tests/dbt_project.yml
index 22a90e8..db3781e 100644
--- a/integration_tests/dbt_project.yml
+++ b/integration_tests/dbt_project.yml
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
-name: 'codegen_integration_tests'
-version: '1.0'
+name: "codegen_integration_tests"
+version: "1.0"
 config-version: 2
 
-profile: 'integration_tests'
+profile: "integration_tests"
 
 model-paths: ["models"]
 analysis-paths: ["analyses"]
@@ -12,12 +12,16 @@ macro-paths: ["macros"]
 
 target-path: "target"
 clean-targets:
-    - "target"
-    - "dbt_packages"
+  - "target"
+  - "dbt_packages"
 
 seeds:
   +schema: raw_data
   +quote_columns: false
 
 vars:
-  my_table_reference: table_c
\ No newline at end of file
+  my_table_reference: table_c
+
+models:
+  +bind: false
+
diff --git a/integration_tests/macros/operations/create_source_table.sql b/integration_tests/macros/operations/create_source_table.sql
index 7dad625..6794e51 100644
--- a/integration_tests/macros/operations/create_source_table.sql
+++ b/integration_tests/macros/operations/create_source_table.sql
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ reset enable_case_sensitive_identifier;
 {% do adapter.create_schema(target_schema) %}
 
 {% set drop_table_sql %}
-drop table if exists {{ target_schema }}.codegen_integration_tests__data_source_table
+drop table if exists {{ target_schema }}.codegen_integration_tests__data_source_table {% if target.type == "redshift" %}cascade{% endif %}
 {% endset %}
 
 {{ run_query(drop_table_sql) }}
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ create table {{ target_schema }}.codegen_integration_tests__data_source_table as
 {{ run_query(create_table_sql) }}
 
 {% set drop_table_sql_case_sensitive %}
-drop table if exists {{ target_schema }}.codegen_integration_tests__data_source_table_case_sensitive
+drop table if exists {{ target_schema }}.codegen_integration_tests__data_source_table_case_sensitive {% if target.type == "redshift" %}cascade{% endif %}
 {% endset %}
 
 {{ run_query(drop_table_sql_case_sensitive) }}
diff --git a/integration_tests/models/schema.yml b/integration_tests/models/schema.yml
index aa3f980..4fe5ae7 100644
--- a/integration_tests/models/schema.yml
+++ b/integration_tests/models/schema.yml
@@ -4,4 +4,4 @@ models:
   - name: model_data_a
     columns:
       - name: col_a
-        description: description column a
\ No newline at end of file
+        description: 'description column "a"'
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/integration_tests/package-lock.yml b/integration_tests/package-lock.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..88d613b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/integration_tests/package-lock.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+packages:
+- local: ../
+- package: dbt-labs/dbt_utils
+  version: 1.1.1
+sha1_hash: de2deba3d66ce03d8c02949013650cc9b94f6030
diff --git a/integration_tests/tests/test_generate_model_yaml_upstream_descriptions.sql b/integration_tests/tests/test_generate_model_yaml_upstream_descriptions.sql
index 73e6687..613345a 100644
--- a/integration_tests/tests/test_generate_model_yaml_upstream_descriptions.sql
+++ b/integration_tests/tests/test_generate_model_yaml_upstream_descriptions.sql
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ models:
     description: ""
     columns:
       - name: col_a
-        description: "description column a"
+        description: "description column \"a\""
 
       - name: col_b
         description: ""
diff --git a/macros/generate_model_yaml.sql b/macros/generate_model_yaml.sql
index d10e9a4..d4fbbee 100644
--- a/macros/generate_model_yaml.sql
+++ b/macros/generate_model_yaml.sql
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
     {% if include_data_types %}
         {% do model_yaml.append('        data_type: ' ~ codegen.data_type_format_model(column)) %}
     {% endif %}
-    {% do model_yaml.append('        description: "' ~ column_desc_dict.get(column.name | lower,'') ~ '"') %}
+    {% do model_yaml.append('        description: ' ~ (column_desc_dict.get(column.name | lower,'') | tojson)) %}
     {% do model_yaml.append('') %}
 
     {% if column.fields|length > 0 %}