Commonwealth's PFAS case against 3M 'daunting', judge says

Government's complex case against PFAS manufacturer 3M laid out in Federal Court Fri 7 Aug 2026 at 1:20pm , updatedFri 7 Aug 2026 at 1:26pm In short: The legal teams for the Commonwealth and chemical manufacturer 3M discuss the complexities of a $2 billion suit over PFAS contamination. The federal government is seeking to recoup the costs of remediating 28 defence bases across Australia. What's next? The matter will return to court in October. A Federal Court judge has described the Commonwealth's $2 billion lawsuit against the chemical manufacturing company 3M over PFAS contamination at defence bases as "daunting". During the first case management hearing in Federal Court today the two parties agreed the Australian government's claim was "large and complex". It heard a 1,600 page statement of claim has been filed about alleged soil and water contamination at 28 defence bases across Australia, where firefighting foam containing PFAS chemicals was used. Justice Catherine Button told the court sitting in Melbourne she had "never seen a claim like this … and to characterise it as daunting would be an understatement, daunting for everybody". In March the Commonwealth announced it was seeking damages from US-based chemical manufacturer 3M and 3M Australia. It the largest legal claim ever brought by the federal government, attempting to recoup the costs associated with investigating, managing and remediating contamination from the legacy use of AFFF firefighting foam. It alleges the company withheld the results of its own environmental laboratory testing that shows there were significant adverse environmental effects associated with its PFAS products. 3M released a statement saying "we will defend ourselves against these claims through legal process", and despite ceasing the sale of the products at issue in Australia two decades ago the Department of Defence continued to use them. 3M has faced a number of lawsuits over PFAS contamination across the globe. In 2023 it settled a $US10.3 billion ($14.5 billion) claim with a number of American public water providers to test for and treat the substances but did not admit liability. 'Retired, if not dead, by the time it comes to trial' Fiona McLeod AO SC, representing the Commonwealth, told the court that while the bases have been and continue to be remediated the PFAS compounds "persist in the environment and do not breakdown". She said the case references research conducted by 3M, including an historical study on monkeys which showed the chemicals were persistent and toxic to animals. In an effort to expedite the matter Ms McLeod suggested the respondents plead to the claims relating to six defence sites selected by the applicant before the end of the year. She told the court those bases included a mix of environmental issues they have encountered, including where contamination plumes are stagnant, where safe drinking thresholds are being exceeded and where PFAS continues to migrate. Justice Button agreed with the approach to select certain sites that would help identify issues between the parties. "This matter can't run on a traditional set of train tracks otherwise we'll never get there," she said. "We'll all be retired, if not dead, by the time it comes to trial". King's Counsel Philip Solomon for 3M told the court it had a large legal team dedicated to the case, including four barristers. He said it was the "most complex matter I've ever seen" and suggested that it might have taken then Commonwealth two to four years to prepare its 1,600-page claim, which Ms McLeod denied. When asked by Justice Button what the "big picture" defence would be, Mr Solomon said while it was still working on a "master list" it had "obvious elements of complex science", including five limbs on liability and four limbs on causation. Justice Button ordered the matter to return to court on October 16, by then the parties will have agreed to which number of bases 3M will enter pleas to in full. 3M must file and serve their defence on December 11. [Image text:] WILL EACH WAR CARE ENOUGH SY OUT REDZON THAT DEFENCEIS STILL POLLUTING THIS LAND PSAMER