By Lee Burnett
Their members can take credit for the passage of two moratoriums – on development of a data center and a biosolids gasification plant. And now, two members are running for the Maine Legislature and two others have taken out papers to run for City Council.
The Sanford Clean Air and Water Coalition has stirred political activism in Sanford to levels unseen since the great debate over a resort casino development two decades ago. Many of their leaders are relatively recent arrivals in Sanford and are notable not just for their activism, but for their community-mindedness. They operate on a shoestring with no formal titles, although they do receive organizational support from Slingshot, a nonprofit that teaches communities how to organize against environmental threats.
The Sanford Springvale News thought it would be a good time to introduce some of their key members. The six people profiled here answered written questionnaires. They are by no means the only key people.
Alex Clary loves winter sports, including snowshoeing on Mount Hope. Photo: courtesy
Alex Clary plays the inside game, as well as the outside game. Not only has he advocated in public, but he’s built relationships with the powers-that-be by meeting with Water District, Sewer District, and members of the City Council and the Industrial Development Corp. He was also instrumental in mobilizing coalition members to participate in trash cleanups around town.
Clary, 30, has been so successful in presenting a positive image that Mayor Becky Brink recruited him to serve on the Industrial Development Standards Task Force, the council-appointed group tasked with reviewing land use controls for both biosolids gasification and data center developments. He’s also running for City Council.
Clary says all the time he’s spent organizing is worth it because it gives him a role in the city’s future.
“I feel that there is nobody coming to save us besides ourselves,” he wrote. “We are responsible for our own future and path forward as a community.”
Clary works for Catholic Charities of Maine in their immigrant resettlement efforts. He grew up in Scarborough and moved to Sanford with his wife Brittney “as we wanted a real community where people actually work together and help each other towards something better.”
He said he wants the community to hold high expectations for itself, even as folks struggle to make ends meet, as he and his wife do. “I don’t want people to feel that these two projects are our only path forward as a community towards something better, especially when long-term, it’ll be just as bad as the mills were and we’ll be in the same position at the end.”
Becky Dixon and husband Rick Stevenson at Gowen Park after the Fourth of July parade last month. Photo: courtesy
Becky Dixon threw herself into the organizing effort, as she does her many other community activities — enthusiastically. She was posting on Facebook and talking to anyone who would listen about the Aries project before many people knew about it.
“I think getting the issues out there is the most important aspect. In my career you look at things from cradle to grave, especially new technology/new chemicals. Most of the issues we are facing now are because this isn’t being properly done,” she wrote.
Dixon, 49, is an industrial hygienist who has worked for a range of federal agencies. She and her husband, who works at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, are both from New York. They moved to Sanford in 2014 to escape the DC-area congestion and lack of greenspace.
She’s an active contributor to many local groups. She’s chair of the Sanford Republican Committee and a board member of the Sanford Housing Authority, Sanford Garden Fair Committee and Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee. She’s also been active in Friends of Downtown.
They love to walk their dogs at Sanford Community Forest and on various other trails “which we appreciate so much!”
She hopes Sanford can attract more quality companies to Sanford, such as Baker Company/Eagleson Institute and Tom’s of Maine.
“I hope more industry that will not impact public health or the environment in a largely negative way, come to Sanford,” she wrote.
Eve Dumont-Wilson with a friend’s pet goat. Photo: courtesy
Eve Dumont-Wilson
Eve Dumont-Wilson, 29, studies wildlife conservation at Unity College. She also homeschools her children and is active with Dance Conservatory of Southern Maine. She has volunteered with the Maine Volunteers in Parks program, focusing on invasive species management. She’s concerned about the health of the Mousam River.
Dumont-Wilson and her family moved to Sanford from New Hampshire, where she says things were getting too expensive. “We found a wonderful home here to raise our children, two dogs, and three cats.” She now believes the town is unfairly perceived by some as “not caring” about issues.
“It’s actually inspiring how much people care about our environment, wildlife, and about each other,” she wrote. “We’re here to stay and be a part of that movement.”
She hopes to see more people get involved in advocating for the local environment. It’s important, she said, because of the threat giant projects pose to the health of the Mousam River and, in the case of the data center, to the water supply. Also, she said, “I fear that if our city becomes a sludge hub, nobody will want to come here to shop or go out to eat, and our local economy will suffer.” She adds that the large turnout of volunteers gives her hope.
Dumont-Wilson is a co-founder of the coalition who has brought in new members, organized public events, and helped to collect signatures on petitions. She’s done other community outreach work aimed at gauging public concerns about the sludge plant proposal.
Nicole Gorsun and husband Joe after picking peaches in their backyard. Photo: courtesy
Nicole Gorsun, 34, is an online operations coordinator for the Center for Academic Innovation at the University of Southern Maine in Portland. She and her spouse, both natives of South Berwick, have lived in Sanford since 2019. She says they enjoy living here, close to work, family and friends.
She’s an avid gardener and advocate for progressive candidates and causes.
“A yearning for justice motivates me, and a drive to protect our community,” she wrote. “For too long, the powerful and privileged have exploited their positions of power to deprive working class people of basic dignities like access to clean air and water.”
Gorsun says she hopes to see Sanford continue to be a welcoming and affordable community, something that could be put at risk by certain kinds of development.
“My fear is the community will be forced to accept dangerous industries that jeopardize the crucial foundations any healthy community requires: access to clean air, water, food and a reliable energy infrastructure,” she wrote.
She has collected signatures, attended meetings, drafted and edited documentation, and helped make plans for the coalition. She’s also occasionally acted as a spokesperson for the group when news organizations have come to town.
John Henkelman teaching canoeing to students at University of New Hampshire
John Henkelman, 39, one of the group’s founders, seems to have unlimited energy and a range of outdoor interests.
Since moving to Sanford from Florida in 2022, he has merged his professional background as an analytical chemist with his passion for the outdoors. He became a registered Maine guide, began a doctoral program at the University of New Hampshire in outdoor recreation management, and last summer paddled the length of the Hudson River. He’s a member of the city’s Recreation Advisory Committee and the Strategies for a Stronger Sanford board. He writes an occasional outdoor recreation column for the Sanford Springvale News. And, as if that weren’t enough, he’s been knocking on doors for several months as a Democratic candidate for the Maine House of Representatives in District 143.
“What energizes me is seeing community members from varied backgrounds and political beliefs unite around transparent, evidence-based decision-making to safeguard our shared environment – or as I like to call them, natural treasures,” he wrote. “My work is driven by data, objective science, and a deep sense of responsibility to our neighbors.”
Henkelman worked as an analytical chemist for 10 years and now teaches environmental science as an adjunct faculty member at the University of New England.
His work for the coalition includes analyzing technical documentation, helping design survey tools to collect feedback, organizing community outreach opportunities and developing maps. He was a public speaker on PFAS issues at the community forum April 2.
Jordan Matthews with her beloved cat Puffy. Photo: courtesy
Jordan Matthews, 27, has a bent for investigation. Last January, before many people knew about the Aries project, she spent nights poring through disclosure documents on file with an obscure agency tasked with regulating municipal securities markets.
She discovered that Aries prototype plant in Linden, NJ, was shut down and in severe financial distress. She posted her findings on social media, casting a cloud over the company even before it rolled out plans to build a much bigger plant in Sanford.
Though she lives in Shapleigh, Matthews considers herself a neighbor to Aries’ proposed plant because she works for a cannabis business in the industrial park. She’s become one of the coalition’s most visible members, not only attending every relevant event but also talking about issues at Sanford Art Walk, the Farmers’ Market, community cleanups and National Night Out. She was among the members who represented the coalition on a public affairs show aired by WMPG radio.
She said she’s particularly passionate about protecting natural resources, especially water, given the frequency of droughts.
“I don’t like seeing predatory industries take advantage of people, particularly when they are being targeted because these industries assume that we don’t have the time or energy to fight back,” she wrote.
Originally from Mansfield, MA, she and her partner bought a “fixer-upper” in Shapleigh two years ago to be closer to her partner’s family. “I stay here not only for my work, but also for the vibrant community that I have become involved in and love dearly,” she wrote.
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