On January 9, 2020 the British Columbia Supreme Court found in
favour of the Purchaser awarding costs against the Seller when an
underground storage tank was discovered approximately 2½
years following closing ("Completion
Date"). The judge made this finding despite the
Purchaser obtaining a UST inspection report prior to closing
finding no USTs. In coming to this conclusion, the Judge stated at
paragraphs 62 and 63:
There is no language in the Addendum which could be interpreted
as limiting the defendants' obligations only to those USTs that
were discovered prior to the Completion Date or to those USTs of
which they were aware.
The Addendum does not include any condition language. For
example, it does not say that the defendants are to remove and
remediate "any oil tank that is discovered prior to the
Completion Date" or "any oil tank that they are aware of
prior to the Completion Date."
