We’re constantly monitoring the news about the Berkey vs EPA lawsuit. Here’s what happened most recently.
Chevron Doctrine Overturned
As many of you know, the Supreme Court dealt a major blow to the EPA and all other out-of-control federal agencies last month in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which overruled the 40-year-old “Chevron doctrine”, which allowed federal agencies to fill in the details of their powers—which, predictably, always resulted in agencies choosing to expand their power.
Under the new rule, courts are now instructed to rule on agency powers by using the court’s own judgment about whether a federal agency is right, wrong, or overstepping their authority—instead of deferring to the agency’s interpretation (as courts were previously required to do under the Chevron doctrine).
This new position does not mean that Berkey International is guaranteed to win its case, but the Supreme Court’s new instruction certainly favors our efforts to fight against the EPA’s attempt to selectively redefine Berkey® water filters as a “pesticide” without the required notice or any formal change process (as defined by law in the “APA”, or Administrative Procedure Act) to include Berkey® after 25 years of operating without any regulatory interference.
While courts may now be provided the power to act, one never knows if judges now empowered with this new authority will elect to use it. In our case, Judge Camille Velez-Rive heard Berkey International’s request for an injunction in April 2024 (more than three months ago), but has not yet ruled. Berkey International will be filing a request for a status conference in the next few days, and ask the court to act on our requested injunction and, in effect, take the Supreme Court’s overturning of the Chevron doctrine into consideration in support of our case.
Spread the Word—Share, Repost and Make Your Elected Representatives Aware of the EPA’s Overreach
Our case is getting national attention, with an influential four-term congressman and several publications questioning the EPA’s motives:
In light of the recent overturning of the Chevron doctrine by the Supreme Court, we’re asking you to help us get our lawsuit on the radar of as many elected officials as possible.
Here’s what you can do:
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Contact Representative Gaetz’s office (https://gaetz.house.gov/) and ask if he has received any responses from the agency, and urge him to take further actions to hold the EPA accountable and bring the issue to public’s attention.
- Call or email your local congressional representative immediately to make them aware of our lawsuit (maybe even sharing some of the links above), and let them know you think it’s unfair—or even unlawful—that the EPA can selectively target Berkey® Water Systems, change long-established rules of commerce without warning, and damage the reputation and livelihoods of a law-abiding US-based company and its employees and retailers around the world. Moreover, the EPA’s actions against Berkey® are depriving countless consumers of Berkey® systems and genuine Berkey® replacement filters for a product they trust and depend on daily.
Your voice could make a difference. Make it heard today!
The Bottom Line
Congress should engage the EPA and ask for justification of its unwarranted attack on Berkey®, the nation’s most trusted provider of gravity-fed household and outdoor water filters. As well, judges should recognize the Supreme Court’s most recent ruling that pushes back on agency overreach, and gives courts the authority to enforce the law and act in the best interests of the American people and American business.
For the latest updates from Berkey®, please visit the “Company News” section on our customer support website.
New Millennium Concepts, Ltd. (“NMCL”) and the James B. Shepherd Trust, the brand owner of Berkey Water Systems, filed a lawsuit against the EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) this week seeking to stop its unjustified treatment and perceived persecution of Berkey Water Filters based on the EPA’s decision this year to treat Berkey Water Filters as though they are pesticides, rather than water filters.
For more than a quarter of a century, Berkey has provided water filters to the public, providing an effective, economical means of removing harmful contaminants from freshwater sources for consumers to have clean water at home or on the go.1 In fact, an entire generation has grown up with a Berkey filter in their kitchen. If the EPA wants to regulate gravity-fed mechanical water filters, it has a process to follow, at the very least. Berkey’s filters have never caused any harm to anyone, and the removal of Berkey filters from the market inexorably means that Berkey owners will not be able to replace the filters in their systems and therefore, the demand will be met with untested knockoff and counterfeit filters that claim to be replacements that provide the same benefits—when in fact they do not.2
The EPA’s decision to persecute the market leader may well cause actual damage to the American people who the EPA is supposed to be protecting. For example, on July 11, 2023, CBS recommended the Travel Berkey system, both in print and in their broadcast news, based upon the Environmental Working Group’s testing that found Travel Berkey systems removed toxic PFAS to below detectable limits3. And on June 7, 2023, popular consumer health advocate Mike Adams recommended Big Berkey systems reporting that they removed an impressive 99.99% of radioactive cesium-137.4 However, EPA Region 8 is actively working to make these systems unavailable to the American people.
Berkey’s filters have never caused any harm to anyone, and the EPA’s arbitrary—and arguably irrational—new interpretation of its regulations would have a huge impact, directly threatening not only the jobs of 500+ employees globally, lost sales for Berkey distributors and retailers around the world (some of which sell only Berkey products—effectively putting them out of business) and also the well-being of the American people, the very consumers who the EPA is supposed to protect. Moreover, it would have the same impact on other outdoor water filter manufacturers, potentially putting them out of business as well.
The EPA has been regulating pesticides since 1947, mostly through the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.5 FIFRA is exactly what it looks like – a law that seeks to regulate chemical pesticides, primarily for agricultural purposes. But the law distinguishes between actual pesticides, “substances or mixtures of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest”, and “treated devices”, which use registered pesticides in their construction, e.g., seeds that are sold after being treated with a registered pesticide.
The EPA has never sought to force registration of mechanical-type water filters as pesticides until last year when the EPA decided to start regulating Berkey’s water filters without warning after more than two decades of indisputably safe manufacture and sale.
Though there was no notice or opportunity to discuss that issue, Berkey and its manufacturing arms agreed to a request from the EPA for Berkey filtration products to be identified as “treated devices” (which is a different classification than a pesticide or a pesticide device), because they incorporate silver (a registered pesticide) in their filter media (a common additive in water filters which does not leach into the water) that protects the filter from biological grow through, a common problem with water filters.
Berkey has not hidden from the EPA, and has tried to comply with applicable laws and regulations regarding the manufacture and distribution of Berkey products. First, Berkey products were designated by the EPA as treated devices; the EPA then reinterpreted their rules and arbitrarily reclassified Berkey filters as a pesticide, issuing orders (without due process) preventing Berkey filters from being sold in some parts of the country by select Berkey dealers and vendors that received Stop-Sale Orders. This change in the rules is without notice or a shred of legal support. Berkey’s filters are not “substances or mixtures of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest”, as FIFRA defines pesticides. Rather, they mechanically remove contaminants through a tortuous maze of micropores, absorption and ionic adsorption.6
A problem arises when a water filter system is classified as a registered pesticide because a whole host of time-consuming regulations and requirements go into play, including onerous labeling requirements that must be placed upon all packaging. Basically, the regulations that require labels to go on the packaging assert that the product is a hazardous material. Other required labels include hazard precautionary statements, environmental hazards statements, directions for use and storage, disposal statements and mandatory statements that ensure the proper use of the pesticide and to prevent the occurrence of unreasonable adverse effects on the environment, which is defined in FIFRA etc. Therefore, Berkey would be required to label its water filters with pesticide language that could be very disconcerting and frightening to its customers—especially when similar and competing products are not being held to the same standard or requirements. Moreover, pesticide registration is an expensive process that can take years to get EPA approval and in the meantime, Berkey products would not be available to the American public.
As an administrative body, the EPA does not make actual law; its authority is limited to creating rules, which enforce laws that are passed by the United States Congress. As it is making rules, it is obligated to give notice of new rules and take input from those who will be impacted, which in our case did not occur.
In part, the EPA is excusing its new regulations that now classify Berkey filters as a pesticide on a notice issued in 2007 regarding electrode-equipped ion-generating devices, asserting that the use of silver in Berkey filters makes the filters into ion-generating devices, even though the 2007 notice specifically excepts that interpretation.
NMCL, and the family-owned trust that owns Berkey’s intellectual property and manufacturing authority, has employed Norred Law to sue in federal court, and seeks an injunction to force the EPA to follow its rule-making process before enforcing new regulations.
The case has been filed in the Northern District of Texas, in cause 4:23-cv-00826, and is before Judge Pittman, who has ordered briefing on the requested injunction before the end of August. Read Mr. Shepherd’s Declaration and the Original Complaint here: https://www.norredlaw.com/documents/01-Original-Complaint.pdf
For more, contact Warren Norred at 817-704-3984 or warren@norredlaw.com
[1] During their history, Black Berkey Elements have undergone what we believe to be the most rigorous testing of any other gravity-fed water filter elements. Berkey systems are simple and easy to use and require no electricity, costly installation, or tools, providing economical, long-lasting water filtration for just pennies a gallon.
[2] Black Berkey Elements are composed of a proprietary blend of multiple media types designed to work synergistically and target specific contaminants that far exceed the reduction capabilities of carbon block filters that are solely composed of activated carbon. See https://support.berkeywater.com/buyer-beware/
[3] https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/video/which-water-filters-can-block-pfas/
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/philadelphia/news/best-water-filters-for-pfas-chemicals-environmental-working-group-test/
[4] https://www.naturalnews.com/2023-06-15-nuclear-fallout-lab-tested-water-filters-remove-cesium.html
https://support.berkeywater.com/big-berkey-cesium-radiological-reduction/
[5] FIFRA, 7 U.S.C. ch. 6 § 136.
[6] Mechanical filtering refers to a water filter construction where contaminants are caught and removed by a tortuous maze of micropores in the filter, absorption and ionic adsorption.
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I’ve been doing research and learning about all of the toxins in our everyday lives for about ten years now. People are finally catching on but still so many that don’t know and laugh when you try to teach them. We purchased a Berkey because it’s the best of the best and a friend of mine who is a well digger, told me that a Berkey is what he took to Africa on a missions trip to dig wells for people to have clean water. I shouldn’t be surprised by this article but still am somehow. I believe in this 2025 administration and am hoping and praying that RFK will be the answer that America needs and we can get our black Berkey filters back!!
Hi, I am livid that I can't purchase replacement filters, I need filters ASAP. What are the options while waiting this out? Please help!
Hi Diane -
We don't have an estimated time on the black berkeys yet, but in the meantime we have the new and improved ultra sterasyl ceramic filters now available. These are similar in performance, about half the price, but need to be replaced more often (approx every 6 months - 1 year).
https://www.bigberkeywaterfilters.com/replacement-filters.html
Thanks
Dan
Are you expecting this to be overturned with the new administration starting in 2025?
Hi CB -
It's hard to say, but we would think so for sure. We're watching this closely and will do what we can once new cabinet members are in place.
Thanks
Dan
Perhaps the EPA should focus on the true toxins killing us and the environment.
Would that create too much of a financial loss for the big boys?
Is there a way we buyers and users of Berkey filters can get in on this lawsuit? We are being left exposed to these toxic contaminants with other inferior filters and know for a fact that we like Berkey the way they are being made now because they work great. Unlike any other brands we've tried. Even the birds outside don't come to our bird bath if we use our culinary water but do, if we use Berkey water. Even they know better.
Hi Thereasa -
You can write you representative, but right now it's in the courts and being fought hard.
Thanks
Dan
"If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so."
Thomas Jefferson
What a joke , Round up sprayed in food and cigarettes still being sold , these govt agencies are a joke and don’t care about public health
That is so true. THey still sell that cancer causing round up in the stores. So whats up with that regulation???
I find this entire thing ironic.
Being an ex-military member who was stationed at one air station after another drinking who knows what was in the water systems. Things are just coming to the surface as to what ended up in our water.
Let alone, cities with lead (among other things that will cause health issues) in their drinking water that have gotten away with it for decades and where has the EPA been for these people?
Now the EPA decided to pick a company that has decades of history of no complaints of medical issues.
Where is the EPA proof there are any problems with this company?
Is this another example of fraud, waste, and abuse of our tax dollars going up in smoke?
If so, heads should roll for such BS.
As we know holding the government responsible for this kind of thing is impossible.
It makes one wonder if there are other filtration companies behind this and who might have to gain from such a shutdown.
It sounds like there needs to be a 20/20 type of investigation needs to happen. There seems to be something wrong with the water but it's not the filters.
This doesn't add up IMO, something seems fishy.
Funny how the EPA couldn't be bothered to lift a finger in East Palestine, OH, to clean up a chemical spill but they make preventing people like those residents from being able to filter their own water a priority by going after companies like Berkey.
This labeling silver as a pesticide is a legalese move to waste time and money in our now belabored kangaroo court system.
If the EPA truly cared about pesticides and human health, they would focus their efforts on stopping the industrial systematic poisoning of the planetary ecosystems (ocean, atmosphere, soil) that maintain the delicate balance of microscopic life crucial to our health and very existence
Interesting that the EPA allows toxic chemicals into our fresh water supplies along with runoff from livestock, actual pesticides and a host of other chemicals and PFAs. But they decide to ban the sale of a carbon based filter because it incorporates silver? Historically, a silver spoon or other piece of silver was added to one's drinking water supply to help ward off bacteria. Now they want to restrict it? Makes no sense. I have used Berkey for more than 20 years and had the water tested from my Berkey and my homes city water which has award winning water. Berkey came back with safer levels than the city water.
They are totally in bed with big Pharma, so this thing is just another way to more people sick, so more money. The real route of evil is lobbyists
That's why they want to stop Berkey. They're keeping people from drinking the contaminated water that's making them sick.
As you can tell by all of the comments, there are not many fans of our government or the EPA, or any other three letter agency for that matter. What does this tell you? It’s time to thoroughly clean house and get back to the nation our founders intended. It’s “We The People”, not “We The Government”. Stop being complacent, get together and force a return to the U.S. Constitution and end all of this nonsense.
This matter disgusts me. Berkey water filter and products are the best. Our own government is trying to get away from poisoning American people. This product removes the stuff we don’t want to drink. I pray Berkey wins this lawsuit and our dirty government wants us to drink there filthy and disgusting water that makes us sick. Please Berkey, never give up, because America’s are behind you all the way. Justice will be served on all evil.
Amen!!
Great
Make no mistake, this is an agenda being pushed by big pharma and the parasites that get kickbacks, more people are realizing that it is the chemicals in our food and water causing sickness, stay the fight and try to inform as many as possible
I have used Berkey water unit and carbon filters for many years. I also purchased units for my kids. Long Island NY has some of the most toxic drinking water yet we pay high taxes and water bills. We all depend on Berkey not our government. In fact they have not done a dam thing about the cancer causing water. My young daughter diagnosed with cancer 7 years ago and has not drank any water unless its filtered with Berkey Filters.
For lack of a more eloquent phrase...so much bad stuff is allowed in our drinking water and waterways it seems that the overall focus of the EPA should be here and not on Berkey's tried and true systems. Something is amiss here but we've all known that for awhile now.
Correlation- Berkey is actively promoted by critical thinking(CT) influencers and websites, and purchased by CT individuals. The government used the IRS as a weapon against same groups in the past.
Vote for President Donald Trump in 2024 and this will be immediately quashed.
Glyphosate is a deadly poison that nearly killed me- until I got a Big Berkey and now I can again drink clean water! I make myself available to help this lawsuit any way I can.
I love how all the comments are from borderline retards with no ability to think beyond themselves. Silver has been a registered pesticide since 1954. the EPA is not suing them, they are suing the EPA. the law says if you have "registered pesticides" in your product you must adhere to certain disclosures and labels when selling to the public. They are using a registered pesticide and are surprised that the EPA cares *surprised pikachu face*
If we didn’t have the ability to think for ourselves, we’d simply take the government overlords at their word and never dream of questioning their logic or motives on this and other onerous regulation. Although silver is regarded as a pesticide due to its ability to kill bacteria, viruses and fungi, it is hardly unsafe. It is used in numerous filter systems, not just Berkey, to keep the filter free from bacteria, as well as band-aids, tooth brushes and paste and so on. And no scary burdensome labeling. In my opinion it is really stupid to classify silver in the same category as diazinon, permethrin and DDT which are never used in any filter to prevent bacteria growth. Why not then label all foods containing preservatives as pesticides ? Silver, copper, zinc and gold surfaces all prevent bacterial and/or fungi growth. I can personally testify that colloidal silver solutions kill many cold and other infections internally and is completely safe. You can, of course, believe what you want, and take the government masters at their word every day of your life without question, but please, at least first read the article above concerning the arbitrary and capricious reinterpretations and unequally applied burden placed on this company before calling people “borderline retards”.
You need to look at the names you are calling people as it seems you know nothing about the medicinal properties of silver.. It heals, cleans and can be used medicinally to cure many ailments . Maybe the EPA had better start working for us instead of the deep state who are trying to kill us to reduce the population. A whole lot of us are onto the deep state agendas and will NOT let them ruin our country. There is a lot more of us than there is of them. There is room for all!
You are correct that nanosilver has been classified as a pesticide under FIFRA since 1954. It is only so when used as an antimicrobial otherwise is is regulated under TSCA. However, Berkey states their Black Berkey filters clean water by trapping the bacteria instead of destroying or inhibiting bacterial growth. What are your thoughts?
By that logic, wouldn't silver jewelry have to be classified as pesticides?
So upset I cannot purchase filters for my 2 Berkey Water purifiers.
Can we as owners file a lawsuit too?
Around here they're testing municipal water, and finding it unacceptable, mostly because of contamination from chemical runoff.
Suddenly, they are attacking Berkey, a USA made company, while allowing similar filters that are made in other countries to be sold.
I would speculate that our government is about to "manage" our water - for our own good and to save the planet. I also suspect that they may test and outlaw private wells, using the same "logic" they're using to decimate Berkey.
I don't trust the reasoning behind conspiracy theories, but right now I don't trust our government, either, so I'm going to annoy my congressional representative with a letter, and a yowl, of protest. I suggest that everyone else who is as annoyed and concerned as I do the same.
Just curious, does the EPA require a warning on, or regulate silver coinage? Same question for ALL electronic devices, tableware, jewelry, mirrors, etc, etc, etc.
Pound sand epa.
I'm sure, though could be wrong, that it's all about the form of it, and how it's used. Silver in electronics and jewelry is not in colloidal silver form, nor is it being used in a protective/preventative way (as a pesticide).
The greater argument, IMO, is why then do other filter companies as well as the FDA use silver to prevent bacterial, fungal, viral growth and can do so without such pesticide labeling? That's the issue- in equitable application of the law/rules targeting an individual company or group of companies.
Maybe look into making them as something else small livestock water filter market them outside the FDAs jurisdiction and then just explain on your website how your manufacturing process hasn’t changed only that they are no longer intended for human use I would buy livestock water filters I know and trust I think a lot of the freethinkers using your product would also catch on rather quickly
As the granddaughter of a no nonsense veterinarian, I like the way you think!
We will be praying for you guys. It's truly heartbreaking that our government seems determined to kill us all. The real pesticides are in our water, not your wonderful filters. As this moves along please let us know what we can do to help. Thank you.
Effectively, the EPA is trying to label the silver in the filter as a pesticide?? This all sounds an awful lot like the 2020-2022 smear campaign against Ivermectin. The government simply wants to make it impossible for the American people to have access to safe and effective (and cheap) health products. Better that we should all be sick all the time and dependent on expensive pharmaceuticals. No thanks!
Bingo. Our water is an easy way to poison us over time and keep us unhealthy. Exactly what the PharmAnimals wants with every single one of us and their payments and bribes to the politicians ensure they can.
The Banking system is behind this nonsense they have an agenda to fulfill. I hope you win this case. And safe lives.
Follow the money trail! See “who’s paying who” to change market distribution, and has enough inside influence (And $) to convince Key people in the EPA to Twist law and policy.......as well as Webster’s dictionary!
Just another way to take something natural off the market to try and keep Big Pharma from losing out..
The EPA is ABSURD... Did the person who insisted on labeling the Berkey [mechanical filter products as a “pesticide device”]... take an IQ test and fail???? Maybe someone 'intelligent' at the EPA should contact their HR department and find out and review their hiring requirements. When I pick up a can of black widow spray, it's to kill the nasty spider, before it bites me (no offense to all you arachnoid lovers)... that's a pesticide device!
Good for you, I pray you are successful and God exposes the truth of the EPAs motivation!
Seems like CDC only do things to damage the health of the citizenry. Why? Because they are set on the idea of population reduction.
Absurd is an understatement! I knew deep down that our water systems/filtration systems would be next on the chopping block. I seriously feel angry and mad at the same time. My family has 2 Berkey systems and have been a loyal and happy customer for almost 10 years now. Implementing these corrupt measures on a long standing reputable business is very disappointing from the EPA. Praying this will not hold up.
Please keep fighting for your rights and this incredible set of products.
Is there any action we can take as consumers to help?
How can we help you Berkey?
Hi Kathleen -
We appreciate you asking, and at this time it's just a wait and see until this gets resolved in court.
Thanks
Dan
We the people need to flood our local senator and congressman’s offices and demand it to stop.
Once again the alphabet organization of the government has overstepped their boundary. They seem hell bent on destroying businesses especially honest ones all the while corrupt businesses get away with breaking every rule and never getting punished for it.
The plan is to kill the americans.
The EPA needs to devote their time and resources to prosecuting the companies who have polluted our water ways and funding the necessary upgrades to municipality water systems to remove the forever chemicals in addition to developing a solution for homes with well water systems. Clean water is paramount to the continuity of human life.
What an outrageous act by EPA. Unfortunately they are only doing what they've always done - prevent useful products and promote poisons. This lawsuit should not have to be be undertaken, and is a waste to your / our resources. Wishing you great success.
Thank you for alllll your efforts and your fabulous, most effective water purifier - We've been using one for over 10 years.