Berkey Water Filter Manufacturer Files Lawsuit Against EPA Alleging False ‘Pesticide’ Accusations

New Millennium Concepts, the manufacturer of Berkey water filters based in Texas, is taking legal action against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for falsely claiming that its filters are “pesticides.” Using its COVID-19-era regulatory powers, the EPA issued stop-sales orders to several Berkey vendors and distributors in May, resulting in significant financial losses for the company. New Millennium Concepts filed a lawsuit on Aug. 3, arguing that the EPA’s actions were unjustified and constituted persecution. The lawsuit states that Berkey had operated in the U.S. for 25 years without incident or regulation from the EPA until 2022 when the agency demanded registration of the filter as a “pesticide device.” The lawsuit alleges that the EPA’s failure to operate within its guidelines has caused significant damage to the company. The EPA has been regulating pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) since 1947, but the lawsuit argues that Berkey filters do not use chemical pesticides. Instead, they rely on a mechanical purification process. The company agreed to designate its filters as “treated devices” due to their use of silver for filter protection. However, the EPA now considers the filters to be actual pesticides and has issued orders preventing their sale in some parts of the country and their export. The lawsuit contends that the EPA’s actions are arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion. New Millennium Concepts is seeking an injunction to block the EPA’s stop-sales order. The company claims that the EPA’s actions have cost it significant storage costs and have prevented it from moving its products to customers. The lawsuit states that Berkey filters have never caused harm and that their removal from the market will lead to the proliferation of untested knockoff and counterfeit filters. The EPA declined to comment on the lawsuit.



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