Nick DeGemmis said he kind of fell into his career. A potentially unfortunate metaphor for a wastewater treatment professional, but the new Boothbay Harbor Sewer District superintendent is enthusiastic about his job.

“I think it's a fantastic field,” he said. “It's a huge community service. I’m an environmentalist at heart, so I think you're a last line of defense for environmental protection.”

DeGemmis, 42, has been working in wastewater treatment for over 15 years in both the private and public sectors. His most recent job was in St. Paul, Minnesota, but his work has taken him around the country including Texas, several states on the eastern seaboard and, last month, Maine. 

He got into the field at a bachelor party when he half-jokingly asked a friend’s father, the director of a water and sewer department, if he was hiring. Shortly after, he found himself driving to the facility to start work, and he eventually started studying and taking night classes to hone his skills. He also has a bachelor's degree in business administration from Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire. 

Now, DeGemmis is training to take over the superintendent job in Boothbay Harbor from Chris Higgins. Higgins has been with the district 28 years and plans to leave later this year. The two are taking advantage of a significant overlap to try and make a seamless transition.

“I’m here to continue Chris' legacy and try to serve the community as best as I can,” DeGemmis said. “Keep the harbor clean, be a good steward of the environment, be a good neighbor and a good participant in the community here. That's really my intention. That's why I came here."

DeGemmis said the finer points of Boothbay Harbor’s system are new to him but expects he will learn fast. He also said the facility is the smallest one he has worked with, with a permitted discharge of around 640,000 gallons a day, about the volume of an Olympic-size swimming pool. The biggest was in Hoboken, New Jersey at 20 million gallons a day.

He said the size is irrelevant, and he expects to find the same challenges and opportunities at each plant, just on different scales. As with many fields, he said the work comes down to the team and the attitude.

"One of the best things is the group here; I think they have a good group of people,” he said. “I think that can make a sizable impact at a facility this size if you come in and you have some good intentions ... If you can motivate people, you can make a good impact, too."

The human element of the job is important to DeGemmis. He said one of the job’s biggest draws is the sense of community here. Originally from Connecticut, he already has ties to Maine and New England. He spent a lot of time around Brunswick visiting close friends, and he hiked the Appalachian Trail.

The outdoorsman looks forward to getting into saltwater fishing, hiking and exploring the area. But he said those will come after he gets done with the checklist of repairs on his newly bought house in Southport.

After moving around the country for so many jobs, he is eager to make the most of his time in a small community. He is ready to settle down with his son, Nicholas, longtime partner Kayla and their baby on the way.

"When New England is in your blood, it’s home,” he said. “I do have a sense of coming home and want to kind of set roots down and establish myself and raise my family here so that's really what the personal driver of everything (is). Sometimes opportunities just fall in your lap, and this was one of them."

DeGemmis is taking things slowly while he gets familiar with the job, team and facility. He has ideas, but said the operations are already fantastic and he does not want to come in and make any drastic changes. His goal is to establish himself as a good successor to Higgins and an active member of the community.

"If I could script things for myself years ago, this would have been something that I definitely would have written down. It’s an opportunity I would have taken advantage of. I'm lucky and blessed.”