MISSION — After two years of technical wrangling in the Texas Supreme Court, Mission residents’ lawsuit against a host of chemical companies is free to move forward again.

But the way forward is by no means clear for the 1,850 plaintiffs and their lawyers.

The court ruled 5-4 that lower courts had moved the massive lawsuit toward trial too fast, when plaintiffs had not shared enough evidence that chemicals packaged and mixed at the Hayes-Sammons plant in the 1950s and ’60s caused the wide variety of illnesses — including cancer and blood problems — from which neighbors have suffered for decades.

One case, that of Guadalupe Garza, is set to move forward as an individual “test” lawsuit.

“Both sides really want to see what a jury’s going to do in this kind of a case,” said Ramon Garcia, an attorney for most of the plaintiffs.

A plaintiffs’ committee met Friday to discuss their options.

Of concern to most is how fast the cases can be moved to trial, considering the age and health of many participants in the suit. If each individual is forced to prove that the “toxic soup” of pesticides that were made and stored in the plant and leaked into surrounding soil caused their individual illnesses, years and an untold amount of money will have to be poured into the suit.

Plaintiffs have long pushed for a “mass tort” trial, a complex undertaking wherein all the plaintiffs, most of whom have wildly differing injuries and circumstances, would participate in one trial.

However, the majority on the state’s highest court chided the lower court and plaintiffs’ attorneys for pushing to a trial “involving hundreds of parties and complex causation questions” without providing expert testimony and evidence to the defendants soon enough.

“Basically, it said, ‘Stop playing games — if you’ve got something, go,’” said Edmundo Ramirez, a McAllen-based attorney for several of the defendant companies.

With the case free to move again, both sides are gearing up to make up for lost time.

Plaintiff organizer Ginger Silva was overjoyed upon hearing that the court had lifted its two-year-old order staying the case.

“I started crying. I was just so happy,” she said.

However, with everyone eager to have their stories heard and injuries compensated, and with misinformation flying through the rumor mill, “There’s a lot of chaos,” she said.

“All I want is for this case to close. People are tired, and more importantly, they are dying,” Silva said.

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