‘It’s sickening’: N.B. residents file claim against Covered Bridge chip factory over smell

Covered Bridge Potato Chips Ltd.'s factory in Woodstock, N.B., is shown on Thursday, May 21, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Eli J. Ridder

WOODSTOCK, NEW BRUNSWICK — When Susan Ryan tries to relax with a book on her backyard patio, she says she often reads the same page over and over again, distracted by the sounds and smells of her new neighbour.

Ryan and her husband live in the western New Brunswick town of Woodstock, by the U.S. border. One street from their home, one of Canada’s most popular potato chipmakers has transformed a warehouse into a factory, angering the retired couple and other residents who say their once-quiet district has been upended by the hum of industrial fryers and the smell of potato chips.

“The whole neighbourhood is almost like we’re living in a prison yard here. It’s impacted all of us,” Ryan said, standing in front of the factory one recent morning as trucks drove around the parking lot and a steady hum droned from the building.

A group of 17 residents, including Ryan, have filed legal claims against Covered Bridge alleging “significant and ongoing disruption” to their lives.

Covered Bridge Potato Chips Ltd. describes itself as a fourth-generation family-owned business from the New Brunswick town of Hartland, which boasts that it’s home to the longest covered bridge in the world. Starting as a distribution company in 2004 before getting into chip production in 2009, the company has grown in popularity and even nabbed a new two-year deal to sell its chips at the Rogers Centre as an official partner of the Toronto Blue Jays.

In early 2024, its chipmaking plant near Hartland burned down. After more than a year of temporary production lines at other factories, Covered Bridge in 2025 retrofitted its storage warehouse in Woodstock into a chip-processing factory.

“The smell, when it’s blowing this way, it’s nauseating — it’s sickening,” said Kelly Atherton, who bought her house more than two decades ago and works as a graphic designer from her home, located a few hundred metres southeast of the factory. In an interview, she said she’s put “blood, sweat and tears” into her backyard — describing it as an at-home retreat.

“I’ve had the office window open a little bit and the bathroom window up there, and I went upstairs and it smelled like the greasy chips, and it just made me feel sick to my stomach,” Atherton said from her backyard.

Ryan, Atherton and the rest of the group of 17 each filed separate claims and are represented by lawyer Basile Chiasson, who says their goal is to “oust” Covered Bridge from their neighbourhood. However, he declined to share copies of the claims, which have been sent to the Farm Practices Review Board, a tribunal designed to handle agriculture complaints.

The residents could pursue their case before the Court of King’s Bench if the review board decides it does not fall under its jurisdiction.

In a statement earlier this month, Covered Bridge’s vice-president Brook Dickinson said the company started taking steps last year to erect a large fence to block the sight of its facility from neighbouring properties. He also said the company will plant trees and add measures to reduce the sounds from the building.

Those efforts would continue this spring, he said, adding that the facility was in full compliance with municipal and provincial rules.

The company didn’t respond to recent requests about the source of the sounds or whether it was planning measures to reduce the smell that residents say is bothering them.

Several residents told The Canadian Press they believed the Woodstock production facility was only meant to be temporary, expecting Covered Bridge to rebuild its Hartland plant. And while Covered Bridge refused multiple requests for an interview, Ryan Albright, who founded Covered Bridge with his brother, told news website AllNewBrunswick.com the future of the Hartland property is “undecided.”

Melody Hannah, a retiree whose backyard has an unobstructed view of the facility, said the smell from the factory causes her 18-year-old son Dylan to gag. Industrial pot lights from the building pointing toward her street give her son migraines.

Gordon Porter, a retired educator, says he’s worried about Covered Bridge causing property values to drop.

“The practical effect is that this factory, this plant, is contributing to the decline in value of this whole part of Woodstock,” Porter said, speaking inside his home on Henry Street.

All of the residents who spoke to The Canadian Press this month say they are disappointed the Town of Woodstock didn’t put a stop to Covered Bridge’s expansion in the town.

Porter says the town should have forced the potato chipmaker to expand elsewhere.

“It’s deeply disturbing that this level of intense industrial development was seen as appropriate by either the company management or the town officials and bylaw people who gave permission for this to happen,” Porter added.

The Town of Woodstock, in response to a detailed list of questions from The Canadian Press, said it would not comment on the matter because of the ongoing legal proceedings.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 27, 2026.

Eli Ridder, The Canadian Press