The federal government has set aside more than $20 million to deal with chemical contamination at commercial airports across Australia, including Canberra.
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Officials fear toxic chemicals from fire fighting foams have polluted the soil at 22 of the country's largest airports, which are in a stalemate with the federal government over who is responsible for the clean-up.
The latest annual report by government agency Airservices Australia included a $23.2 million liability earmarked for managing the fallout from the legacy of contamination.
"Airservices has been managing issues arising from the use of these fire fighting foams...since it became aware of concerns about PFAS in the early 2000s," the annual report read.
From 1980 to 2003 the foams, which contained harmful polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), were used by government-employed fire fighters at dozens of airports and military bases.
The Environment Department has previously described the chemicals as "persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic".
In 2008, the first preliminary site tests identified possible PFAS contamination at Canberra Airport's old fire fighting training ground.
Further investigations, which are ongoing, found PFAS residues in the soil and groundwater around another site at the airport's fire station.
In Airservices' 2014-15 annual report a budget contingency of just $6.5 million was set aside for PFAS contamination management.
A spokeswoman for Airservices said the extra $16.7 million did not indicate the scale of contamination had grown.
The money would allow "more detailed site investigations" and support research into containment and remediation solutions, she said.
"There has been no change to the underlying risk profile or scope of contamination at Airservices sites," she said.
"Airservices continues to implement its national PFAS management program, which includes site investigations, to understand the scale of any potential PFAS contamination.
"Airservices is continuing to work with relevant Commonwealth and State/Territory regulators, airports and other stakeholders to determine appropriate next steps."
In February 2016 the government wrote to affected facilities, warning them about PFAS and asking them to investigate contamination within their sites.
Airservices Australia is the government entity responsible for providing fire fighting operations at many of the commercial airports where PFAS contamination is either known or suspected.
The spokeswoman for Airservices said significant progress had been made in the development of remediation solutions for PFAS contamination.
"For example, the commonwealth Department of the Environment and Energy is working alongside state and territory environmental agencies to develop a PFAS national environmental management plan that will provide nationally consistent guidelines and standards on PFAS contamination," she said.
The liabilities section of Airservices' annual report also mentioned the mounting legal claims faced by the agency.
One lawsuit, covering alleged superannuation underpayments and sham contracting measures, is believed to affect as many as 600 former government employees and 150 current managers.
"Airservices is reviewing the details, and merits, of each claim and is not in a position to quantify any potential liability at this stage," Airservices said.
In November last year, a report commissioned by the Department of Defence examined PFAS contamination within water supplies near 12 Australian Air Force bases.
Contamination near an Air Force base in the Northern Territory town of Katherine was so bad the Department of Defence had to supply dozens of properties with bottled drinking water.
