COLLINS LAKE, NJ - On July 9, Collins Lake resident Sgt. Donald Lewis received the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Team Award for the Second Quarter.

Photo caption: Col. Maria Morgan (center), The Deputy Adjutant General of New Jersey, New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, presented Sgt. Lewis (left) and members of the Cherry Hill Organizational Maintenance Shop Spill Response Team, New Jersey National Guard Armory in Cherry Hill, the award, during a ceremony at the National Guard Training Center at Sea Girt.

 Sgt. Lewis received the award for his “quick thinking, decisive actions, and outstanding performance during a diesel fuel spill at the Cherry Hill Organizational Maintenance Shop.  On February 11, this dedicated and skilled team worked to contain and clean up approximately five gallons of diesel fuel and approximately 120 cubic feet of contaminated soil without external emergency response agency help.  Post excavation sampling indicated that due to the team’s quick response, groundwater and surface water pollution to the adjacent Cooper River was prevented.”

The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs which is the state headquarters for both the New Jersey Army and Air National Guard and responsible for the administration of state veterans programs, has more than 1,500 employees at 60 locations throughout the state.