'Unstable' chemicals stacked floor to ceiling at Halifax cottage: RCMP

HALIFAX — Investigators in Halifax have found a variety of containers stacked floor to ceiling inside a cottage that contain "unstable" chemicals, the RCMP said Friday.

Chief Supt. Roland Wells of the Halifax RCMP provided an update on their investigation into the discovery of chemicals at two residences that have led to the arrest of a 42-year-old man.

"Within the cottage is a variety of containers filled with chemicals stacked from floor to ceiling. Many of these chemicals are unstable, so we must use extreme caution and care," Wells told a news conference.

"It's extremely complex — unlabelled chemicals piled from floor to ceiling, some inside fridges, some inside other appliances."

Wells said it appears there are dozens of different chemicals and chemists from the RCMP and Health Canada are trying to determine what they are.

"The investigation has been evolving all week," he said. "The reality is investigations of this nature take tremendous time."

His comments came before Christopher Burton Phillips appeared briefly in Dartmouth provincial court on charges of uttering threats and possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose. Phillips was remanded into custody and due to return to court Jan. 29.

The RCMP brought Phillips back to Nova Scotia from Ottawa on Thursday after he was arrested a day earlier at a hotel that had to be evacuated.

Police allege in a sworn information at provincial court that Phillips threatened a police officer and possessed osmium tetroxide, a highly toxic chemical.

The document alleges the offences took place between Boxing Day and Wednesday in Cole Harbour, a suburb of Halifax.

Two residences in the Cole Harbour and Grand Desert communities of Halifax had to be evacuated earlier this week as a result of the investigation.

An area around a cottage in the Grand Desert community of Halifax was evacuated Tuesday and that remains in effect. Wells said that area is at an "extreme fire risk" due to the volatility of the chemicals found at the site.

Ottawa police arrested Phillips at the Chimo Hotel and linked the arrest to the discovery of the chemicals in Halifax.