Victims of Danvers blast say checks received not enough

The couple and their 17-year-old daughter spent two years in rental housing, before moving into a new shingled home overlooking the Crane River. And the family’s share of $900,000 divvied up recently among 350 people who are part of a settlement reached with CAI Inc. and Arnel Co. doesn’t come close to covering the family’s losses.

“It’s a drop in the bucket,’ said Stacy Stamm, 40, standing at her kitchen sink yesterday afternoon.

While some of the property losses were covered by insurance, families that received checks in the last week for uninsured property, emotional impact, and out-of-pocket expenses say it was not enough to cover the trauma and true cost of the explosion.

Stamm declined to say how much her family received for emotional and property damage claims filed with the Danversport Trust, a nonprofit set up to work out a settlement for homeowners, businesses, boat owners, and other blast victims. Most people who filed claims were asked to not reveal how much they received, residents said.

“It really wouldn’t be right,’’ said Ed Sanborn, a resident of Riverside Street, who said he filed property and emotional damage claims. “Everybody’s losses were so different.’’

Most homeowners have or will receive pennies on the dollar from the settlement, compared with the cost of rebuilding. “We should have got a lot more,’’ said Jim Glavin, 72, standing in the doorway of the Colonial-style prefabricated home he moved into two years ago. “I’m paying a mortgage now that I didn’t have before.’’

Almost 100 homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed by the explosion, which occurred at 2:46 a.m. on Nov. 22, 2006.

State and federal investigators said it was caused by chemical vapors ignited with an unknown source.

There were no serious injuries or deaths in the explosion.

The trust agreed to a $7 million settlement with CAI and Arnel, which a Superior Court judge approved almost one year ago. Under the terms, $5.5 million went to insurance companies that had already paid claims to policy holders.

Of the remaining $1.5 million, almost $430,000 was to be paid to three lawyers who represented the trust in the settlement: Jan Schlichtmann of Beverly, the noted environmental attorney, and Boston lawyers Michael Germano and Peter Lagoria. None of the lawyers could be reached for comment yesterday.

Sanborn said the lawyers agreed to limit their fee to 25 percent of the settlement. “Usually lawyers take 33 percent, but they changed their fees because they knew there would not be a lot of money to split up among people,’’ he said.

The $7 million represented the total amount of insurance carried by CAI and Arnel, which shared the factory, an amount Stamm said was insufficient. “They did not have enough insurance on that building,’’ she said. “Would I have liked to have received more? Yes, but it can’t happen.’’

W. Paul Needham, a Boston lawyer who represented CAI and Arnel in the settlement, said the company was properly insured. “It’s not cheap what we had on that building,’’ Needham said, noting the companies played no role in determining how much money people received from the trust.

“We fulfilled our obligation by paying the settlement.’’

Of the $900,000 available to blast victims, 10 percent was to be paid directly to the trust, to fund improvements to the tiny waterfront neighborhood near the Peabody line. Of the remaining money, 20 percent was to be set aside to fund emotional distress claims, with the remaining 70 percent for property damage claims not covered by insurance, according to the settlement agreement.

A three-member committee appointed by the trust spent the last year evaluating claims. The goal was to reimburse people for out-of-pocket costs not covered by insurance payments. Checks were sent in the last week, residents said.

People who filed a distress claim received the same amount of money, which is less than $1,000, Sanborn said.

‘You really couldn’t put a value on people’s emotional hardship, so everyone was treated the same,’’ he said.

But the amount of property claims appear to have varied widely. One resident who estimated his property damage at about $60,000 said he received $500.

Even owners of houses that were completely destroyed by the blast didn’t receive much, residents said.

“I think a lot of people got less than $1,000,’’ said Linda Carney, 63, whose house on Bates Street had to be torn down and rebuilt.

“People probably wanted more, but I think a lot of us just think, ‘We’re lucky to be alive.’ ’’

Kathy McCabe can be reached at kmccabe@globe.com