ST. ALBANS TOWN — Earlier this month, Janet Cote brought a pastor to her half-rebuilt store in St. Albans Town, where work halted in 2017. Inside the building’s bare bones, they prayed that after being closed for more than a dozen years, she could bring the store back to what it was.

A freak accident involving a neighbor’s tractor initially caused the store to close for repairs in 2012. But soil contamination from underground oil tanks, which were found after the accident, started an extended limbo and legal battle over who should foot the whopping bill for remediation: Cote or the state.

In late July, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled on the lawsuit against the state Agency of Natural Resources. Cote, who is 83, still hopes that after six years in the court system, winning the suit would

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