The Australian federal government has filed a $2 billion lawsuit against 3M alleging the company knew more than 50 years ago that its aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) products — containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — were hazardous to human health and the environment. The 1,600-page statement of claim, lodged in federal court, represents the largest legal action ever brought by the Australian government. The core allegation is a knowledge-and-concealment timeline. Government lawyers claim 3M's Australian operations should have known no later than 1973 that AFFF was potentially damaging. Yet company brochures provided to the government as early as 1967-68 described the products as "non-toxic" and "widely tested." Before December 1973, 3M made statements that AFFF was "non-toxic," "non-irritating," biodegradable, and would "not adversely affect the ecology of receiving streams." Purchasing began in 1972, with 3M Australia offering large quantities at a reduced price in September of that year. Internal company documents tell a different story. A 1981 document showed 3M was barring women "of child bearing potential" from working at an Alabama plant "so they will not be exposed to a type of fluorochemical that can cause birth defects in rats." The government alleges PFAS products were known to persist in water, soil, and the human body, contributing to reduced kidney function, immune system alterations, fertility effects, and lower birth weight. Twenty-eight Australian defence bases are contaminated. PFAS chemicals leached into groundwater from concrete, asphalt, soil, and sediment into surface water and drains. A 2016 priority list identified 24 bases requiring further assessment. Defence began phasing out PFAS in 2004, and purchases of 3M AFFF ended in 2003. Investigations and monitoring have been underway since approximately 2011, with more expected. The financial damage is already quantified in hundreds of millions. The filings detail $360 million in class action settlements, more than $214 million for ongoing investigations, monitoring, remediation and mitigation, and over $51 million spent on research and evidence collection. Three key PFAS chemicals were banned in Australia last year. More than 14,000 PFAS compounds exist, and some — including PFOA — have been identified as cancer-causing in humans. 3M's defence position is narrow: the company says it never manufactured PFAS in Australia and stopped selling the products about two decades ago. A spokesperson noted that defence continued to use the products for nearly two decades after 3M stopped selling them. Federal court justice Catherine Button described the case at a Melbourne hearing as one she had "never seen" before, calling it daunting as "an understatement." A further hearing is expected in October, with 3M's formal defence due before year's end. The structural question is whether a manufacturer can externalize decades of contamination costs onto a sovereign buyer — and ultimately onto communities and ecosystems — by selling known-toxic products under false safety claims, then pointing to the buyer's continued use as a defence. The answer to that question will shape PFAS liability globally.
