SalemNews.com, Salem, MA

Danversport Explosion

Discussion

The Salem News has a real-name policy for commenting. Users may sign in using the Facebook Connect tool above the comments field. Once your first comment is posted by a moderator, all future comments will post automatically. If you prefer not to use Facebook, send an e-mail with your comments user name (which must be the same as your real name), city or town, street address and daytime phone number to comments@salemnews.com. A staff member will contact you directly to confirm your identity. It may take a day or two before you can post comments. Only your user name will be public. All users are required to follow our rules for commenting, which can be found here.

comments powered by Disqus
November 20, 2007

Danversport Trust wants to stay out of court

Matthew K. Roy

DANVERS — Last November's chemical plant explosion has yet to generate the avalanche of lawsuits that many expected.

Seven have been filed so far, including four by insurance companies seeking to recoup payments they made to property owners.

There would be a thicker tangle of litigation if the majority of residents affected by the blast hadn't opted for an alternative response. More than 150 home and business owners have pooled their claims against those potentially responsible for the explosion under a single umbrella -- the Danversport Trust.

The goal of the trust is to avoid a lawsuit. It will instead pursue a settlement with the responsible parties through voluntary mediation.

The man behind the novel approach is lawyer Jan Schlichtmann, a Beverly resident made famous by the book and movie version of "A Civil Action." He has represented neighbors in other environmental cases and successfully used a court-supervised trust.

The creation of the Danversport Trust was approved in Salem Superior Court on June 8. The trust wants to complete its own investigation of the blast before negotiating a settlement.

"It's a continuing process, trying to figure out what happened and what should be done about it. We're in the midst of that," Schlichtmann said.

The trust has excavated part of the chemical plant site on Water Street and a portion of Bates Street to determine if there was a pathway for natural gas to the plant. Neighbors, citing a history of gas leaks in Danversport and reports that people smelled gas the day before the explosion, have speculated that gas played a role.

It's a theory that federal and state investigators have dismissed. Both found that the accidental overheating of a chemical mixing tank used by CAI likely caused the explosion. The overheated tank generated flammable vapors that filled the plant and found an ignition source.

Schlichtmann said the neighbors' investigation should be finished by next month and they could be ready to present their findings sometime in January.

In the meantime, five separate lawsuits have been consolidated in Essex Superior Court to help streamline evidence gathering. In addition to two insurance-related cases | by Travelers Insurance and Merrimack Mutual Fire Insurance | CAI has filed suit to preserve evidence.

Another case | Borelli v. Arnel, CAI Inc. et al | is a class action suit initiated by the owner of a boat destroyed in the blast, seeking compensation for uninsured and underinsured property owners. There's also a suit involving Concord Oil Co., the operator of a gas station on Water Street that's seeking reimbursement from CAI.

Commerce Insurance Co. last week filed suit in Salem Superior Court to recover $1.8 million from CAI, Arnel and their owners, money the insurer says it paid out to 47 customers.

The insurer for Kimball Memorials, Pioneer Garage and the owner of the land where the Danversport Bakery stood has also filed a lawsuit seeking to recover at least $682,000.

High hopes

Add up the family members involved, and the Danversport Trust has more than 260 beneficiaries. One hurdle they face is finding the money to cover uninsured losses.

CAI and Arnel are believed to have $6 million or $7 million in insurance coverage. It's an amount likely to be swallowed up or severely depleted by insurance companies looking to recover the money they paid out in claims | an amount estimated at well over $10 million, and that could go as high as $20 million.

But leaders of SAFE (Safe Area for Everyone), a neighborhood association formed along with the trust, have high hopes for whatever compensation property and business owners might receive.

"We're really hoping that a lot of people will decide to keep the money in the trust," said Susan Tropeano of SAFE.

The amount held by the trust could be invested and grow. "What it can be is money that people can draw on when they need it," Tropeano said.

The trust could issue no-interest loans. "It could actually be retirement for people, it could be betterment for the community as a whole," she said.

Using a trust expands people's perspective, Schlichtmann said. "It lets people look beyond their own problems and put them in the context of everyone else's," he said.

Alan Greene of 24 Bates St. sees the trust as an instrument of change.

"We're going to take this negative," Greene said, "and make it a positive."

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Local News

Local News
  • Danvers school budget under fire at Town Meeting DANVERS -- Town Meeting last night quelled a mini revolt over the school budget and rejected the idea of Saturday voting for the annual town election. There was much debate over a minority report from two dissenting Finance Committee members, Michael

    May 21, 2013

  • 130520_SN_ABO_ACCIDENT_4 Driver questioned in man's death identified SALEM -- A Haverhill man has been identified as the driver under investigation in the death of a Salem man who was reportedly struck or run over by a car in the Pond View Village housing complex in Gloucester early Saturday morning. James Hayes, 43,

    May 21, 2013 2 Photos

  • Salem State University to open Holocaust, genocide studies center SALEM -- More than 30 years ago, Holocaust survivor Sonia Weitz of Peabody and her friend Harriet Wacks dreamed of educating future generations about the tragic lessons of World War II. That dream came true when they founded the Holocaust Center Bos

    May 21, 2013

  • 130520_SN_KYU_VET_2 Ceremony marches on BEVERLY -- As a sailor stationed in New York City during the Korean War, Arnold Doucette marched in Memorial Day parades with thousands of people lining the route. The marching continued when he got out of the Navy and returned to his native East Bos

    May 21, 2013 3 Photos

  • 130519_NT_sand_3 [Duplicate] Massive sandbar forms off Plum Island IPSWICH -- Plum Island's battle with erosion has dominated the headlines this year, but as the winter's ravages recede, another impact of winter storms is becoming visible, especially from Crane Beach -- enormous new offshore sandbars at the northern

    May 21, 2013 2 Photos