Australia sues 3M for $2 bn PFAS contamination claim

The Australian federal government has filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court against U.S. chemicals company 3M and its Australian subsidiary, seeking more than A$2 billion (about US$1.4 billion) in damages. The claim relates to contamination by per‑ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – often called “forever chemicals” – used in firefighting foam at 28 defence bases across the country. Attorney‑General Michelle Rowland said the case is the largest legal claim ever brought by the Commonwealth, adding, “Make no mistake, this legal action against 3M is significant.” The government argues that 3M withheld internal testing that showed significant adverse environmental effects and misrepresented the foam as safe, biodegradable and non‑toxic. The Department of Defence has already spent about A$1.3 billion on investigating, treating more than 13 billion litres of water and removing over 200,000 tonnes of contaminated soil. Assistant Defence Minister Peter Khalil noted that the lawsuit aims to recover both past and future costs of remediation and community support. 3M contends it never manufactured PFAS in Australia and stopped selling the products there around two decades ago, but the Defence force continued using the foam for nearly twenty more years. The litigation seeks compensation for the environmental, economic and cultural impacts of the contamination.