Fairfax County wants to toss out 19 tons of fouled sewer equipment at the center of its lawsuit against Krispy Kreme, arguing the doughnut maker has had “ample opportunity” to inspect the ruined pipes.
The disgusting body of evidence is stockpiled at the Gunston Commerce Center in Lorton, the remains of a sewer system the county says was destroyed by years of corrosive discharge from a Krispy Kreme plant at the business park. Fairfax is suing the company in federal court for $19 million, including $2 million in repair costs.
The county wants to rid itself of “undue annoyance, burden and expense” of storing the materials, asking permission in a court filing to dispose of them.
Krispy Kreme is crying foul.
The company said it flew its experts out last month to test the equipment, but Fairfax officials refused to grant them access unless they signed an agreement accepting liability for any potential damage during the inspection.
“Our filings lay out our position that the county should not be allowed to destroy evidence,” Krispy Kreme spokesman Brian Little wrote in an e-mail to The Examiner. “We intend to prove that the county’s lawsuit is completely groundless.”
The lawsuit, filed in May, has garnered national attention because of the high profile of the defendant and its confectionary products.
The county says the plant’s dumping of yeast, grease and other discharge clogged and destroyed the network of pipes in southern Fairfax. Krispy Kreme says the county’s faulty design allowed sewage to become stagnant, leading to buildup of harmful chemicals that wrecked the sewer system. Krispy Kreme wants to take samples from the pipes that bolster its case.
“The [county] should not be heard to complain that there is nowhere to store a few dump trucks worth of material within the large geography of Fairfax County until this case is concluded or until Krispy Kreme agrees that further inspection is unnecessary,” Krispy Kreme wrote.
Replied Fairfax: “The county has not just given Krispy Kreme access to the evidence … the county has offered and beseeched Krispy Kreme to come and get it.”
