Krispy Kreme creates gooey mess

By: Uriah Kiser | Inside NoVA
Published: September 16, 2009

Doughnut maker Krispy Kreme has named Prince William County in a counter-lawsuit, but officials say they don't know why.

At issue is a sewer line at the company's doughnut making facility in Lorton. Fairfax County, where the business is located, sued Krispy Kreme in May, saying years of dumping grease and other waste into the sewer caused the pipes to corrode and malfunction.

Now the company has filed a counter suit against Fairfax, and named Prince William County, too, and said both were in violation of the Clean Water Act.

Krispy Kreme states in court records that the pipe's poor design caused the materials workers put into them to stagnate and become corrosive.

Prince William County has been named in the suit because water and waste from the doughnut facility eventually winds through underground pipes to the H.L. Mooney Water Reclamation Facility in Rippon.

Prince William Service Authority spokesman Keenan Howell said Krispy Kreme is asking that the county be charged $37,500 a day for the violation.

"We are astonished by this news and have not been served with any type of notice from Krispy Kreme. It is also unfortunate that we've had to learn as much about this counter-lawsuit from what we have read in the media," said Howell.

A Krispy Kreme spokesman did not return calls for this story.

Howell confirmed that water from the Fairfax County business is processed at the Rippon water treatment facility, but declined to speculate about the company's allegations.

"We will wait until we see something from them before we can begin to comment," he added.

The 30-year-old H.L. Mooney Water Reclamation Facility was expanded in the 1990's to handle 18 million gallons of water per day. It serves more than 35,000 homes and businesses in the county, according to Howell.

A $150 million upgrade to the plant is expected to be completed this year. Once complete, the facility will be able to process 24 million gallons of water while reducing the amount of nitrogen released into the water.

That, Howell said, will help to reduce the amount of algae blooms that are harmful to life in the Chesapeake Bay.

Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-878-8065.