“This legal action against 3M is significant.”
For years, people living near some Australian defence sites kept hearing the same phrase from scientists and officials.
Forever chemicals.
The name sounded almost unreal at first, but the problem behind it kept growing. Contaminated soil. Polluted water. Health fears that refused to disappear even after investigations began.
Now the Australian government is taking one of the world’s biggest manufacturing companies to court over it.
Authorities announced Thursday that they are suing 3M and its Australian division for more than A$2 billion over contamination linked to firefighting foam used at 28 defence bases across the country. The chemicals involved are known as PFAS, substances often called “forever chemicals” because they do not easily break down in the environment.
Attorney General Michelle Rowland said the government believes 3M knew more about the environmental risks than it revealed publicly at the time.
“This is a government that is prepared to take on one of the biggest multinational corporations in the world.”
The lawsuit is now being described as the biggest legal claim ever brought by the Australian government.
At the center of the case is firefighting foam that had been widely used for years at military sites. Authorities say the chemicals spread into surrounding areas, affecting water systems and forcing large cleanup operations that are still continuing.
In some communities, the issue has been hanging over residents for more than a decade.
A resident near one affected area in New South Wales told local broadcasters many families stopped trusting their water long ago.
“People became worried about everything. The water, the soil, even growing food.”
Government officials say more than A$1 billion has already been spent trying to investigate and manage the contamination. Cleanup efforts reportedly included treating billions of litres of water and removing huge amounts of polluted soil from affected sites.
PFAS chemicals were used for decades in products designed to resist heat, grease, and water. Over time, researchers linked exposure to possible health risks including liver problems, certain cancers, and lower birth weights.
3M says it plans to fight the case.
The company argued that it stopped selling the products in Australia around two decades ago and noted that Australia’s Department of Defence continued using the firefighting foam after that period.
That response is already adding another layer to the argument.
Because while the government is accusing 3M of withholding information about environmental risks, the company is pointing back at how long the products remained in use afterward.
Assistant Defence Minister Peter Khalil described the scale of the contamination in unusually blunt terms.
“We are taking on 3M on behalf of the Australian people.”
Across Australia, PFAS contamination has slowly become one of the country’s biggest environmental disputes, especially around defence communities where residents say uncertainty has lasted for years.
Some people worry about long term health effects. Others talk more about property values collapsing or local businesses struggling after contamination warnings spread.
And even now, after investigations, lawsuits, and years of public debate, many parts of the cleanup are still ongoing.
Which means the legal fight beginning now may only be one part of a much longer story.
