Prince William County has been swept up in a legal battle between its northern neighbor and Krispy Kreme over a destroyed sewer system.
The doughnut maker, facing a $19 million lawsuit from Fairfax County, is countersuing not only Fairfax but also Prince William.
At the center of the dispute is a broken sewer that served Krispy Kreme’s plant at the Gunston Commerce Center in Lorton. Fairfax says years of the company dumping yeast, grease and other doughnut byproducts clogged and eventually destroyed the pipes.
Krispy Kreme argues faulty sewer design and operation are to blame, saying the sewage was allowed to stagnate and become corrosive.
Because the waste from the doughnut plant eventually travels to Prince William’s H.L. Mooney Treatment Works in Woodbridge, the company also is suing the outer suburb.
Krispy Kreme’s suit says both counties violated the Clean Water Act and asks each government be fined $37,500 per violation per day.
Prince William County Attorney Angela Horan said Krispy Kreme was mistaken in naming the county government in the lawsuit. The company, she said, “thinks we control the treatment plant, and we don’t.” That responsibility lies with a separate entity, the Prince William County Service Authority.
Fairfax filed suit against the doughnut giant in May, asking for $1.9 million to repair its sewer system and another $17 million in penalties. The lawsuit drew national attention.
Krispy Kreme has operated the plant on Furnace Road for more than four years, and has made doughnuts in Fairfax since 1962. In a recent court filing, it cites “fatal flaws” in the piping and materials of the sewer system that allowed the material to decompose, form sulfuric acid and eat through the pipes.
A Krispy Kreme spokesman did not return a request for comment. In July, spokesman Brian Little called Fairfax County’s charges “completely groundless.”
