A former board chairman of Santa Clara Waste Water Co. pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges. Steve Byerly

Attorneys on Tuesday petitioned a judge to lift an order halting progress of more than a dozen lawsuits against Santa Clara Waste Water Co. over a 2014 explosion at its facility near Santa Paula.

Now that the criminal case stemming from the incident is nearly closed, plaintiffs seeking to recover costs and damages want their day in court.

The Nov. 18, 2014, blast at the plant on Mission Rock Road injured dozens of first responders and employees. It also affected county entities, local businesses and insurance companies and resulted in numerous civil lawsuits being filed in the years after the incident.

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At a scheduled status conference Tuesday in Ventura County Superior Court, Judge Vincent ONeill lifted the stay in one lawsuit involving Santa Clara Waste Water, 805 Trucking Inc. and Allied World National Assurance Co.

But many of the attorneys in the remaining array of litigation also wanted an end to the stay in their cases. Many agreed it should be soon after the last two remaining defendants in the criminal case are sentenced in November.

Several employees were indicted by a grand jury in connection with the blast, which occurred as sodium chlorite reacted with other chemicals when vacuumed into a truck, court documents show. Santa Clara Waste Water and its parent organization, Green Compass Environmental Solutions were also facing criminal charges.

Smoke billows above the scene of an explosion at the Santa Clara Waste Water Co. plant on Nov. 18, 2014(Photo: Star file photo)

A handful of these same defendants were also indicted in a separate case involving the storage of a chemical called Petromax at the facility. The chemical was not disclosed to state regulators as required under the law.

Early on, however, the civil litigation was put on hold so as not to intervene with the Fifth Amendment rights of the defendants accused in the criminal case. Some of those employees are also named as defendants in the civil cases.

All of the criminal defendants have pleaded either guilty or no contest.

ONeill set a court date of Dec. 9 to continue arguments about the future of the other civil suits. The status conference is about three weeks after the final two criminal defendants are set to be sentenced.

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Megan Diskin is a courts and breaking news reporter with The Star. Reach her at megan.diskin@vcstar.com or805-437-0258.

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Lawyers push for progress on suits over 2014 explosion near Santa Paula - VC Star