Australia has filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court of Australia against 3M and 3M Australia seeking more than AU$2 billion in damages for PFAS contamination at 28 defense bases. PFAS, often called “forever chemicals,” do not break down naturally and have been linked to environmental and health risks. The claim covers past and future costs for investigating and managing contamination tied to historic storage and use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam. Australia’s government alleges 3M withheld information about environmental risks. 3M says it never manufactured PFAS in Australia and stopped selling the relevant products about two decades ago, while the Department of Defense continued using PFAS-containing foams for nearly two decades longer. The defense department has already spent AU$1.3 billion on mitigation and removed large quantities of contaminated material.
"Australia is suing U.S. conglomerate 3M for more than 2 billion Australian dollars ($1.4 billion) over so-called “forever chemical” contamination from firefighting foam at defense bases, the government said on Thursday."
"The government's largest-ever claim for compensation relates to contamination with per- and polyfluoroaklyl substances, known as PFAS, at 28 bases. Human-made PFAS are commonly referred to as “forever chemicals” because they don't break down naturally."
"“3M has never manufactured PFAS in Australia and ceased sales of the products at issue in Australia around two decades ago,” 3M said in a statement. “Despite this, the (Australian) Department of Defense continued to use PFAS-containing firefighting foams for nearly two decades longer.”"
"“The Commonwealth (of Australia) is seeking more than AU$2 billion ($1.4 billion) in damages to recover significant past and future expenses incurred in investigating and managing contamination resulting from the historic storage and use of this foam,” Rowland told reporters."
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