Monthly Archives: February 2023

Old Lyme Indoor Track & Field Athletes Excel at State Open Championship, Five Advance to New England Contest

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Freshman Chase Gilbert of Old Lyme displays her medals for taking the runner-up position in both the 3200 meter and 4 x 800 meter races at the Connecticut State Open Indoor Track & Field Championship.

LYME/OLD LYME — On Saturday, the Lyme-Old Lyme High School (LOLHS) Indoor Track and Field Team achieved some remarkable results in the 2023 Connecticut State Open Championship Indoor Track Meet. The event was held in the Floyd Little Stadium at Hillhouse School in New Haven.

Several school records were broken and a number of athletes advanced to the New England Championship meet, which will be held on March 4.

The Lyme-Old Lyme High School 4 x 800 team gather for a photo with their medals. From left to right are freshman Chase Gilbert, and seniors Maddy Morgado, Aggie Hunt, and Lyla Powers.

Freshman Chase Gilbert came second in the 3200 meter race with a time of 10:50:83 and was also a member of the 4 x 800 meter relay team, which similarly came second, recording a time of 9:44.30. Both times are new LOLHS school records. The other members of the relay team, pictured above, were seniors Maddy Morgado, Aggie Hunt, and Lyla Powers.

Senior Dylan Sheehan took second place in the Connecticut Open Shot Put contest earning him a place in the New England Championships.

Dylan Sheehan, who is a senior at LOLHS, won second place in the boys’ shot put competition with a throw of 52 ft 7.75 ins.

Sophomore Zoe Eastman-Grossel came in 9th place in the girls’ 55 meter hurdles breaking the LOL High School’s previous record with a time of 8.76.

The girls’ relay team of Morgado, Hunt, Powers and Gilbert took 13th place in the 4 x 400 relay race, also creating a new school record of 4:19.31 in the process.

Maddy Morgado came in 14th place in the Girls 1000 meter race with a time of 3:16.78.

Editor’s Note: Many congratulations to all these amazing athletes!

Lyme-Old Lyme High, Middle Schools Announce Q2 Honor Rolls

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Lyme-Old Lyme High School
Quarter 2 Honor Roll   2022-23

HIGH HONORS

Grade 12:

Whitney Barbour, William Barry, Callie Bass, Livie Bass, Jillian Beebe, Jordan Beebe, Cooper Bowman, Jamie Bucior, Sarah Burnham, Ava Catalano, Liam Celic, Luke Celic, Alexander Chrysoulakis, Grace Colwell, William Danes, Anna Davis, Kylie Dishaw, John Eichholz, Archer Evans, Alexis Fenton, Willa Hoerauf, Arber Hoxha, Charlotte Judge, Madison Krol, Jair Lata Yanza, Jonah Lathrop, Monique Lavoie, Yosr Manai, Marielle Mather, Kennedy McCormick, Madalyn McCulloch, Madeleine Morgado, Cooper Munson, Alexander Olsen, Allott Patterson, Olivia Powers, Kelsey Pryor, Jacob Rand, Izzadora Reynolds, Santiago Rodriguez, Benjamin Roth, Eli Ryan, Stefan Ryer, Jenna Schauder, Dylan Sheehan, Anders Silberberg, Riley Smith, Alyssa Spooner, Mary Surprenant, Samantha Tan, Tova Toriello, Gesami Vazquez, Kaitlyn Ward, Harry Whitten, Lea Wilson, Andrew Zelek

Grade 11:

Peighton Andrews, Alexis Antonellis, Elliot Bjornberg, Drew Brackley, Jackson Bullock, Sophia Cheung, Emma Cook, William Coppola, Ava Cummins, Ella Curtiss-Reardon, Eric Dagher, Sydney Doboe, Marcia Geronimo, Calla Gilson, Ryder Goss, Sydney Goulding, Alexis Grasdock, Justin Green, Douglas Griswold, Katherine Gryk, Abby Hale, Ella Halsey, Agatha Hunt, Beatrice Hunt, Sabina Jungkeit, Emmerson Kaye, Grady Lacourciere, Griffin McGlinchey, Matthew Miller, Delaney Nelson, Isabelle O’Connor, Ronald Olin, Grace Phaneuf, Jack Porter, Ava Roth, Cailin Ruhling, Haley Shaw, Owen Snurkowski, Madeleine Soriano, Hannah Thomas, Kalea VanPelt, Louisa Warlitz, Mason Wells, Tyler Wells, Summer Wollack, Duohui Yan, Grace Zembruski

Grade 10:

Quinn Arico, Molly Boardman, Nathaniel Bradley, Mark Burnham, Mason Bussmann, Chase Calderon, Andrew Clougherty, Tabitha Colwell, Caeli Edmed, Anna Eichholz, Grace Ferman, Samantha Fiske, Benedict Frazier, Manu Geronimo, Janna Graves, Kaela Hoss, Shyla Jones, Simon Karpinski, Olivia Kelly, Ella Kiem, Skylar Kobelia, Peter Kuhn, Ada LaConti, Elise Leonardo, Andrew Liu, Elizabeth Lopez, Abigail O’Brien, Kanon Oharu, Ysabel Rodriguez, Ryan Shapiro, Drea Simler, Charlotte Tinniswood, Nicholas Turtoro, Kathleen Walsh, Gabriella Ziegler

Grade 9:

Zoe Brunza, Trevor Buydos, Makayla Calderon, Tyler Cann, Julia Clark, Maya Cook, Annabelle Coppola, Colman Curtiss-Reardon, Christopher Dagher, James Dahlke, Sophia D’Angelo, Rose Dimmock, Gabrielle Field, Elena Gerardo, Chase Gilbert, Alexander Glaras, Elizaveta Gregoire, Christopher Kachur, Thomas Kelly, Katherine King, Emily Looney, Serena Mazzi, Carter McGlinchey, Eiley Montanaro, Madeline Murphy, Sybil Neary, Ryan Olsen, Isabella Presti, Luca Signora, Addison Spooner, Carson St. Louis, Sydney St. Pierre, Andrew Taylor, Meredith Thompson, Margaret Thuma, Madeleine Trepanier, Connor Vautrain, Eve Videll, Elisabeth Viera, Oliver Wyman

HONORS

Grade 12:

Olivia Alpha, Gillian Bradley, Ava Brinkerhoff, John Buckley, Gretchen Burgess, Hayley Cann, Jacob Derynioski, Zachary Eichholz, Matthew Grammatico, Owen Ingersoll-Bonsack, Phoebe Lampos, Theodore Lampos, Karleigh Landers, Ford Macadam, Amy Magalhaes, Joseph Montazella, Caden Monte, Thomas Moore, Alain Pecher-Kohout, Rhyleigh Russell, Ned Smith, Matthew Snyder, Marco Supersano, George Williams, Steven Zhao

Grade 11:

Jedidiah Arico, Beatrice Barnett, Emma Bayor, Oliver Berry, Natalie Buckley, Eva D’Onofrio, Amelia Gage, Sedona Holland, John Holzworth, Dakota Kotzan, Mila Lopes, Lucas McMillan, Kayla O’Leary, Luisa Raby, Noah Sanford, Gabriel Tooker, Keara Ward

Grade 10:

Christopher Anderson, Oliver Avelange, Micah Bass, Dominic Clark, Chloe Datum, Andrea DeBernardo, Hoshena Gemme, Salvatore Gencarella, Hayden Grethel, Abigail Griffith, Nicolas Hatch, Rowan Hovey, Kyle Ingersoll-Bonsack, Brenden Landry, Evan LeQuire, Lana Lopes, Colette Marchant, Sophie Pennie, Mutia Quarshie, Kelly Sheehan, Nola Slubowski, Timothy Sousa, Spencer Spezio, Andrew Sprankle, Morgan Standish, Erika TeixeiraGrade 9: Sienna Bari, Braden Dawson, Michael DeFiore, Jonathan Farrell, Benjamin Goulding, Anne-Marie Hinckley, Teagan Iglesias, Maya LeQuire, Ian Maeby, Yanza Marin, Bridget McAdams, Rowen Meisner, Ryan Miller, Ryan Ortoleva, Marleigh Piacenza, Jacob Prokopets, Lance Sanford, Daniel Shaposhnikov, Sophia Shaposhnikova, Emma Singleton, Lucian Tracano, John Turick, Stella Young, Carl Zapatka

Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School
Quarter 2 Honor Roll   2022-23

HIGH HONORS

Grade 8:

Lucia Arico, Mia Bonatti, Ceciley Buckley, Morgan Buerger, Marla Bulas, Brooke Burgess, Anna Bussmann, Brennan Butzer, Lillian Calabrese, Chase Catalano, Isaac Chartier, Sophia D’Amico, Amirah D’Lizarraga, Elliot Dunn-Sims, Samson Edmed, Edward Fiske, Lauren Fulara, Angeline Gencarella, Gavin Goulis, Skylar Graybill, Tessa Grethel, Owen Holth, Emelia Munster, Sean Olsen, Grace Osborne, Mia Palmer, Kaitlyn Pannier, Ainsley Rinoski, Cameron Russell, Allegra Schaedler, Owen Shapiro, Kevork Shegirian, Nicholas Sokolowski, Madeline Stiles, Carli Teixeira, Magdalena Tooker, Kaylyn Vernon

Grade 7:

Kaitlyn Ackerman, Lillian Acosta, Lauren Belval, Anna Bjornberg, Scarlett Blatter, Vivian Boller, Lana Brunza, Naomi Cameron, Gabrielle Clark, John Comstock, Colin Discordia, Ashlynn Edwards, Albert Enman, Katharine Ferman, Jonah Filardi, Sabrina Fusscas, Avery Goiangos, Frederick Goss, Elaina Graves, Gavin Gray, Sawyer Graybill, Alistair Hampton-Dowson, Colleen Harrington, Morgan Harris, Ryan Hill, Reese Holland, Henrik Hummervoll, Fiona Judge, Jillian Kleefeld, Kaedyn Koproski, Henry Kyle, Treyton LaConti, Holden Leonardo, Graham Macadam, Benjamin Mattox, David McAdams, Rowan McCormick, Charles McEwen, Caitlyn McHugh, William McKeever, Clarissa Mock, Addyson Morosky, Grace Morrissette, Marielle Munster, Theodore Neary, Ava Novak, Gwenevere Osborne, Mila Pacelli, Remi Patz, Nicholas Porto, Jonah Scheckwitz, Audrey Sheehan, Avery Spooner, Charlotte Thuma, Delilah Tooker, Jonathan Toriello, Avery Wesch, Charles Zapatka, Avery Zbierski, Ella Ziolkovski

Grade 6:

Matilda Arico, Josie Arndt, Angelina Bari, Anna Block, Emily Bonatti, Cassidy Buckley, Ewan Cabell, Trent Cameron, Emily Campbell, Reagan Christopher, Olivia Chupron, Eliana Cicchiello, Emerson Coker, Benjamin Conrad, Miles Coppola, Nadia Daily, Alessandra D’Amico, Maya Desai, Samuel Dunn-Sims, Joshua Evans, Colin Farrell, Jackson Fiske, Jared Fulara, Samantha Fulara, Ava Fuller, Olivia Gerardo, Victoria Glaras, Cayden Graybill, Kylie Grethel, Toby Griffis, Cole Haslam, Charles Holth, Quinn Hoss, Mary Kane, Griffin Karpinski, Collin Langley, Zoey Langley, Teaghan McDonough, Harland McKenna, Sofia Noti, Thomas O’Connor, Kanato Oharu, Giovanni Orlando, John Osborne, Jack Ouellette, Jack Parker, Adrian Raby, Nikolas Reid, Benson Reis, Lillian Reynolds, Beatrix Rubino, Addison Sapia, Juliette Small, Adrianna Squarciafico, Mia Stokes, Cooper Thomas, Olive Vautrain, Teya Vernon, Reagan Weinstein, Maxwell White, Samuel Zelek, Lily Zerkowski

HONORS

Grade 8:

Addison Arndt, Logan Buckingham, Taiyo Gemme, Harrison Goulis, Marley Iaia, Elsa Jungkeit, William Kabel, Paul Kuhn, Matilda Miller, Arthur Riccio, Milo Stiles, Ivy Wilson

Grade 7:

Payton Burr, Madeline Cummins, Alistair Grenier, Aiden Guidi, Mason Jones, Sadie Lukasiewski, Jaxon Marsden, Liam McCormick, Logan Patana, Caiden Pelletier, Grayson Standish, Renee Viera, Ashlynn Ward

Grade 6:

Noah Compton, Riley Dagata, Olivia Griffith, Ellianna Iaia, Curran Livesey, Ellison Lodge, Isabel Martel, Grant Maxwell, Jack Montmeat, Maxwell Mooney, Maxwell Paonessa, Tristan Reyes, Jagger Tyropolis

Letter to the Editor: Region 18 BOE Chair Says Board Understands Residents’ Concern, Frustration Over Lyme-Old Lyme MS Oil Spill; Details Chronology, Remediation Process (UPDATED)

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Editor’s Note: The statement below has been updated minimally by the author regarding information on PAH’s and a comment about Kropp Environmental.

To the Editor:

With the ongoing desire to provide transparency and accountability of the Board of Education and due to conversations with citizens both officially and unofficially, I submit this accounting of both the chronology and process of dealing with the oil spill at the Middle School on August 1, 2022. [Editor’s Note: The statement is published in its entirety below]

With 20/20 hindsight, our consensus is that while we on the Board are residents, we understand the concern experienced by other residents and appreciate the frustration felt. We will work toward minimizing both going forward. 

It was never the intention of the Board or any of our employees to withhold information, but to some, it may have felt that way.  It is important to understand that the decisions made were based on the best available information at the time in what was, and is, a very fluid situation. We conscientiously followed the direction of the environmental experts involved and, if at any point we had any suspicion that this issue posed a health risk to students, staff, or our neighbors, we would have notified them immediately.

We have relied upon and will continue to rely upon the competency of those experts and will increase our level of communication regarding their actions, progress, and findings.

This particular issue will be resolved with time and we will continue to improve on our sense of community. Too often we presume that our public meetings, minutes, and website are regularly reviewed by the public. We will be more aware of this in the future when it comes to issues that may impact the larger community beyond our school walls.

Sincerely,

Steven Wilson, Chair, Region 18 Board of Education (BOE),
Old Lyme.

Editor’s Note: This letter was co-signed by Suzanne Thompson, BOE Secretary; Chris Staab, BOE Treasurer; and BOE members Laura Dean-Frazier, Jason Kemp and Jennifer Miller.

Statement on the Chronology and Process of Dealing with Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School Oil Leak
Editor’s Note: This statement was signed by Steven Wilson and all the BOE members who co-signed the Letter to the Editor above.

August 1, 2022

At 8:00 AM a notification was received from our Building Management System (BMS) which is a computer-based system that alerts maintenance staff of issues related to the HVAC system. The alert indicated that a boiler failed to fire when the system called for heat. Upon inspection, it was discovered that a fuel line ruptured at a fitting and was spilling oil onto the boiler room floor.

Cleanup began under the supervision of CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) around 8:30 AM that same morning.In addition to vacuuming up the spilled oil, 40 tons of contaminated soil was removed from the area and the boiler room was cleaned of all residual oil.  This incident was discussed at length at the August 3, 2022 Board of Education meeting which is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlkZvwMJnEc

August – January

Under the advisement of DEEP, Kropp Environmental, a Licensed Environmental Professional (LEP), and CIRMA, our insurance company, we continued to extract any possible remaining oil from the ground via a vacuum truck and drilled eleven monitoring/ recovery wells as a way to determine if any petroleum product was migrating from the spill site. The consensus among these professionals was that there was no evidence to support that the spill would impact neighboring wells or our potable water wells.

Results from one monitoring well (MW7) on December 1, 2022 showed evidence of petroleum products in the groundwater. This result required Kropp Environmental to notify their client (Region 18 Schools) and DEEP.

DEEP was notified by Kropp Environmental on Jan. 11.

February

The initial tests of private wells on Lyme St. came back showing no contamination due to the spill. One well did show some levels of contamination, but it has been determined that it was not in relation to the spill.  A retest of that well did not produce any detectable contaminants.

As a public supplier of water, we are required to test our water supply on a quarterly basis. On February 2, 2023, Whitewater (our certified water system administrator) collected a full suite of samples from each of our active potable water wells utilizing additional parameters as recommended by DEEP based on the oil spill that occurred at the Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School in August.  

Chemicals were detected in potable water well number seven that belong to a class of chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH’s). As a result, potable water well number seven was taken offline and water to our main campus was temporarily shut off.  PAH’s are present naturally in coal, crude oil, and gasoline. They are also formed when organic materials like coal, wood, garbage, and tobacco are burned.  We used the available health-based guidelines to inform our decision-making. 

While not impossible, based on the distance, the direction of groundwater flow, the depth of the well, the time period elapsed, and the location of our potable wells, the probability that this contamination is related to the August oil spill is extremely low if not nonexistent.  It is much more likely that the PAH’s found in well number seven come from a different source which we are actively working to identify. 

The test that resulted in us turning off the water was a test of undiluted potable water directly from well number seven. The water from well number seven would generally be mixed with water from three other wells and then pass through a chlorinating and pH adjusting system before being used on our campus.

Since the spill, we have tested our water for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s) at the entry point (such as a faucet) on two separate occasions. VOC samples were collected from the entry point on 8/8/22 and 10/14/22 with no detections of oil-related compounds. 

On February 14, 2023 entry point test results were received showing that the water meets all regulatory standards for consumption with no detections of PAH’s.  Water to the main campus was turned back on with approval from the CT Department of Public Health.

Costs

Region 18 has expended approximately $75,000 out of the contingency portion (which is reported monthly at each Board of Education meeting) of the regular budget and has subsequently met the insurance deductible.  These monies have covered the cleanup, installation of 11 underground monitoring wells to measure any activity in the ground near the site, disposal, testing, and other costs associated with the cleanup and monitoring. 

Our insurance carrier is now funding the ongoing process.This timeline is also  posted on our webpage dedicated to the oil spill (https://www.region18.org/district-information/central-services/facilities-department) under the heading “Main Campus Oil Spill Updates”.

Old Lyme Girls are Shoreline Conference Gymnastics Runners-Up, Freshman Emily Looney of OL Named ‘Player of the Year’: UPDATED

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On Feb. 13, Lyme-Old Lyme High School Freshman Emily Looney of Old Lyme was named Shoreline Conference Player of the Year.

LYME/OLD LYME — On Feb. 13, the Old Lyme girls achieved second place in the Shoreline Conference (SLC) Gymnastics Championship.

Old Lyme’s gymnastic team gained second place in Monday’s Shoreline Championship.

Freshman Emily Looney of Old Lyme was named Shoreline Conference Player of the Year and a member of the All-Shoreline Conference First Team.

Looney took first place in the vault (9.35), bars (8.8), beam (9.5) and floor (9.2), with an all-around score of 36.85 (a team high) at Monday’s SLC Championship.

Death Announced of Christopher Mullaney of Old Lyme

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OLD LYME — Christopher Mullaney passed away suddenly Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023. He was born in Washington, D.C. July 22,1934, son of the late RADM Baron Joseph Mullaney USN and the late Mary Jacobs Mullaney scion of the Jacobs family of Danielson …

He is survived by Judy and three children: Timothy P. Mullaney (Kelli) …; Delight Corvi …, and Jonathan Mullaney (Cheryle) …

Mr. Mullaney was an avid sailor/yachtsman and traveled the world extensively visiting most of the continents …

He resided in Niantic for 28 years and later in Old Lyme for 23 years ..

Visit this link to read the full obituary published by The Day on Jan. 29, 2023.