00:00The Commonwealth has today commenced legal action in the Federal Court of Australia
00:04against 3M Company and 3M Australia for allegedly withholding information and
00:11making false statements about the long-term environmental impacts of the
00:15use of 3M firefighting foam containing PFAS. The Commonwealth is seeking more
00:22than two billion dollars in damages to recover significant past and future
00:28expenses incurred in investigating and managing contamination resulting from
00:33the historical storage and use of this foam. Let me be clear this is the largest
00:40legal claim ever brought by the Commonwealth. Our position is that 3M
00:47withheld a range of information and misrepresented the effects of this
00:52substance. This included withholding 3M's own environmental laboratory testing
00:59which showed there was significant adverse environmental effects associated with the
01:04use of 3M firefighting foam. Representing that 3M firefighting foam could be
01:11safely disposed of was biodegradable and not toxic and there were no significant
01:17adverse environmental effects even when disposed of in the way
01:22recommended by 3M and limiting or insufficiently disclosing the effects of
01:283M firefighting foam in a manner that was inconsistent with their own knowledge of
01:34the potential impacts.
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