District Attorney Gregory D. Totten has announced that Brock Gustin William Baker and Mark Stephen Avila, pled guilty to failure to warn of a concealed danger, a felony violation of Penal Code section 387(a); interference with enforcement, a misdemeanor violation of Health and Safety Code section 25515.4, and two misdemeanors in violation of Labor Code section 6423(a)(2), related to storage of hazardous substances and repeated failures to communicate with employees about hazardous substances.

Baker and Avila’s guilty pleas were entered as to charges in the indictment returned by the Ventura County Grand Jury in connection with their involvement in an explosion that occurred at Santa Clara Waste Water Company located at 815 Mission Rock Road in Santa Paula, California on November 18, 2014.

Baker and Avila will face sentencing on June 1st, 9amm courtroom 12 of the Ventura Superior Court.

Cases against the others are pending.

UPDATE: District Attorney Gregory D. Totten announced today that California Department of Justice will be formally joining the Ventura County District Attorney in the ongoing prosecution of multiple individual and corporate defendants charged with environmental and other crimes related to the November 18, 2014, explosion at the Santa Clara Waste Water Company facility located in Santa Paula, California. This joint prosecution effort will include all aspects of the case as well as the ongoing investigation into the storage of thousands of gallons of chemicals recently discovered through execution of a search warrant on November 5, 2015, at the company’s facility in Santa Paula.