DANVERS - A lawyer for residents whose homes were damaged in the massive explosion in Danvers three years ago says a Kentucky-based chemical company delivered a tanker of chemicals to an ink and paint factory, contributing to an inferno that destroyed or damaged nearly 100 homes and businesses.

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In a public meeting yesterday with Danvers town officials, lawyer Jan Schlichtmann said a worker for Ashland Inc., based in Covington, Ky., also participated in filling up the 2,000-gallon mixing tank that overheated inside the CAI/Arnel factory, causing an explosion that nearly flattened the Danversport neighborhood.

“We believe this was part of a routine practice,’’ Schlichtmann said of the employee’s actions. “That makes it particularly egregious. It was an explosion waiting to happen.’’

In a statement, Ashland said it bears no responsibility for the Nov. 22, 2006, explosion, one of the state’s worst industrial accidents.

“Ashland has great sympathy for the people in Danversport,’’ the company said yesterday. “However, as independent investigations have already determined, Ashland played no role in that event.’’

Separate investigations by the state fire marshal’s office and the US Chemical Safety Board concluded the explosion was an accident. Chemical vapors that had built up inside the plant ignited, causing the explosion, investigators concluded last year. How they ignited is not known.

An investigation by the Danversport Trust, a nonprofit formed to work out a settlement with CAI, found that a worker for Ashland assisted in unloading and distributing 6,000 gallons of alcohol and heptane into three underground storage tanks and a mixing tank that were not properly permitted, Schlichtmann said.

“We certainly think it is absolutely unlawful for a chemical supplier to leave off a potentially explosive quantity of chemicals to an unlicensed facility,’’ he said.

The state Department of Fire Services fined CAI/Arnel $400 last year for not having the proper permits to store flammable liquids and chemicals at the factory.

Jennifer Mieth, a department spokeswoman, said the responsibility for obtaining proper permits lies with the company storing and using the chemicals.

John Vorderbrueggen, the chemical safety board’s lead investigator, said the board knew about the chemical delivery but was not previously aware of an allegation that an Ashland worker may have performed work inside the factory. He said the board thinks that chemicals already inside the plant were responsible for the detonation and that the delivery was not a factor because the chemicals were put into underground storage tanks.