The Australian government has alleged in court documents that 3M, a multinational manufacturing company, knew over 50 years ago that its firefighting products, including components in PFAS ‘forever chemicals’, could be hazardous to human and animal health and damage the environment.
The government’s claims are part of a $2 billion lawsuit against 3M and its Australian subsidiary over PFAS chemical contamination at 28 defense bases. The lawsuit seeks damages of over $2 billion and is the largest legal claim brought to date by the Australian government.
According to the government’s filings, 3M’s aqueous film-forming foam, referred to as AFFF, was known to be potentially damaging to the environment and causative of adverse health effects in humans. The company’s Australian operations should have known this no later than 1973, the government alleges.
Internal company documents, including warnings about the products being toxic, were detailed in over 1,600 pages of filings by government lawyers. One document from April 1981 showed that 3M was not permitting women ‘of child-bearing potential’ to work at one of its plants in Alabama, ‘so they will not be exposed to a type of fluorochemical that can cause birth defects in rats’.
The government’s lawsuit comes after three key PFAS chemicals were banned in Australia last year due to long-running concerns about environmental contamination and health risks. PFAS are found in a wide variety of household and industrial products and are difficult to break down, persisting in the environment for long periods.
A group of 28 defense bases across Australia had been affected by the use of the chemicals, requiring contaminated soil to be removed and treated. Defense began phasing out PFAS chemicals in 2004.
The court filings revealed that defense and other federal government employees attended demonstrations of AFFF products as early as 1967 and 1968, the same time as company brochures provided to the government said the products were ‘non-toxic’ and had been widely tested.
3M did not respond to a request for comment on the allegations. In May, a spokesperson for the company said it never manufactured PFAS in Australia and stopped selling the products in question around two decades ago. The company has stated that it will defend itself against the claims through the legal process.
A further hearing is expected in October, with 3M expected to provide its defense before the end of the year.
