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Australian government sues 3M for two billion dollars over PFAS forever chemicals contamination
The Australian government has filed a two billion dollar lawsuit against 3M, accusing the company of hiding information that showed PFAS substances in firefighting foam were dangerous. The so-called forever chemicals have contaminated sites across the country, mostly in regional and remote areas near military bases. The government alleges 3M withheld its own laboratory testing showing significant adverse environmental effects.
The Australian government has filed a landmark two billion dollar lawsuit against American manufacturing giant 3M, accusing the company of deliberately hiding information that showed PFAS substances contained in its firefighting foam were dangerous. The so-called forever chemicals have contaminated sites across the country, predominantly in regional and remote areas surrounding military bases.
The government alleges that 3M withheld its own environmental laboratory testing which demonstrated significant adverse environmental effects from the chemicals. The company is also accused of misrepresenting the effects of the substances to Australian authorities over many years.
PFAS contamination has affected communities from Williamtown in New South Wales to Bullsbrook in Western Australia and Katherine in the Northern Territory, where soil and waterways have been contaminated. Some residents remain within a twenty five square kilometre contamination zone established around affected military sites.
The Commonwealth has already settled class actions involving contamination around military bases and communities on federal land. However, this new two billion dollar lawsuit is specifically about recovering the costs related to environmental containment and investigations that the government has had to undertake.
Critics have argued that the government should be pursuing 3M for significantly more than two billion dollars, given the scale of the contamination and the ongoing costs of remediation. PFAS substances are known as forever chemicals because they do not break down naturally in the environment and can accumulate in soil, water and living organisms over time.