Australia sues consumer goods giant 3M over 'forever chemicals'
Australia's government said Thursday it had launched an AU$2 billion ($1.43 billion) legal action against U.S. consumer goods giant 3M over the contamination of military bases that used firefighting foam containing so-called "forever chemicals".
Assistant Minister for Defense Peter Khalil told reporters the Australian government was seeking damages to recover the cost of managing environmental contamination at 28 bases from per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
It was the most significant legal action taken by an Australian government, he said.
The defence force had already removed 200,000 tonnes of PFAS from soil because of the risk to communities, he said.
