Qantas will stop using a toxic firefighting foam that 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 substance in April.
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Toxic spill in Brisbane river
People continued to swim and fish in the Brisbane River throughout the Easter long weekend despite the leaking of "22,000 litres of a very dangerous chemical". Nine News: April 15, 2017
Protective barriers designed to contain any spill also failed.
About one third of that is believed to have made it into local waterways.
Qantas said it had provided compensation to commercial operators affected by a subsequent fishing ban and within 12 months would switch nationally to foam that did not 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 on Friday.
The airline said the faulty gauge had been fixed, and systems and procedures had been improved to ensure it didn't happen again, but added local waterways had been contaminated from other sources.
Tests following the April 10 spill, including upstream sites, revealed "the presence of PFAS from a variety of sources, including sources unrelated to the spill from our hangar earlier this year", Qantas said.
In May, the environment department gave fishers the all-clear to return to grounds near the airport, saying tests on seafood were "below investigation trigger levels".
In July last year, the Queensland government announced a ban on firefighting foam containing PFAS chemicals because of their potential to cause significant environmental harm as they break down very slowly.
Firefighting foams containing PFAS have also been linked to contamination around air force bases at Oakey in Queensland and Williamtown in NSW.
PFAS have been used since the 1950s in a range of common household products, such as non-stick cookware and fabric, as well as industrial products.
The chemicals are no longer directly used in consumer goods, but are commonly found in the environment at low levels due to their historical use.
It's also common for people to have low levels in their blood, due to everyday exposure.
The full effects of PFAS exposure on human health are not currently known, but authorities say adverse outcomes can't be excluded.
AAP