Katherine PFAS class action to begin

Shine Lawyers said the Katherine case would be filed in court this week.

Katherine will now join Williamtown and Oakey in seeking compensation from the Department of Defence for PFAS contamination issues.

Only a small number of people attended a public update in Katherine last night but hundreds have signed up for the action in attempt to retrieve lost property values.

Crucial funding has already been secured for Shine Lawyers’ led action.

Shine Lawyers has won the backing of litigation funder IMF Bentham Limited to fund the planned no win-no fee class action over lost property values from PFAS contamination of the town.

PFAS chemicals were used in firefighting foams once used at the Tindal RAAF Base and which are still leaking into the groundwater and underneath Katherine, into the river.

The proposed class action has become now unconditional, a critical step in the proposed court action.

Enough people have signed up with valid claims against Defence, the litigation funder has decided.

“IMF has confirmed that the condition precedent to the agreement, requiring sufficient claimants with valid claims entering into funding agreements with IMF, has been satisfied,” Shine Lawyers has said.

IMF is also backing Oakey residents in Queensland who have launched their own class action against Defence over PFAS contamination.

The law firm, Dentons Lawyers, is mounting the class action at Williamtown in NSW, again backed by IMF.

A trial date of late 2019 has been set down for class actions involving Williamtown and Oakey with a mediation session later this year.