Qantas quits toxic foam

QANTAS will stop using a toxic firefighting foam after thousands of litres spilled from a hangar into the Brisbane River earlier this year.

A faulty pressure gauge at the airline’s Brisbane hangar has been blamed for spilling about 22,000 litres of the toxic substance in April, with roughly one third believed to have entered local waterways.

Protective barriers designed to contain any spill also failed. Qantas says it has compensated commercial fishers affected by the subsequent fishing ban, and within 12 months will switch nationally to foam that doesn’t contain a toxic group of chemicals known as PFAS.

“The foam spill at our Brisbane hangar in April was deeply disappointing and falls well below the environmental standards we set for ourselves,” Qantas said in a statement yesterday.

The airline says the faulty gauge has been fixed.