Refusing to go through a Mobil compensation settlement board, about 100 companies and individuals have presented a plan, drawn up in agreement with Mobil and law firm Slater & Gordon, to a Victorian Supreme Court judge for approval this week.

On January 10, 2000, the Civil Aviation Authority grounded 3000 planes that had refuelled with contaminated avgas from Mobil's Melbourne plant at Altona. The grounding of aircraft caused a number of aircraft operators's businesses to fail.

A spokeswoman for Slater & Gordon said the decision to form the independent panel would finalise all remaining claims against Mobil.

"This is what people have been wanting all along, which is an independent claims process in which their rights can be determined by people other than Mobil's appointed assessors," she said.