Friday, August 23, 2002; Page B07 reprinted from The Washington Post

James Leonard Makris, 67, the emergency response coordinator for the Environmental Protection Agency, whose work included the Exxon Valdez oil spill, flooding in the Midwest and oil field fires in Kuwait during the Persian Gulf War, died Aug. 16 at Virginia Medical Center in Arlington.

He died of head injuries he received in a fall at his home in Arlington a week earlier.

Mr. Makris retired from the EPA last month after 35 years of federal service. He had been with the EPA since 1983 and had been the agencys emergency response coordinator and chair of the National Incident Coordination Team since the early 1990s. He also was chairman of the National Response Team, which is drawn from the 16 federal agencies that coordinate federal planning, preparedness and response.

He had worked on EPA responses to chemical accidents in Europe, helped to develop a plan for dealing with a possible oil spill or release of a hazardous substance in the Panama Canal and worked on responses to potential terrorist threats.

After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 and the subsequent anthrax incidents in the U.S. mail, he worked on an EPA response.

Mr. Makris was born in Nashua, N.H. He graduated from the University of New Hampshire and was a 1964 graduate of George Washington University law school. Before joining the EPA, he had management positions with the Office of Emergency Preparedness, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Disaster Assistance Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

He was a former vestryman at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Alexandria, where he also sang in the choir.

His marriage to Barbara Makris ended in divorce.

Survivors include his wife, Christine A. Makris, and their three sons, Michael, Nicolas and Alexander, all of Arlington; three children from his first marriage, James Makris of Warrenton, Tom Makris of Fredericksburg, Va., and Karen Makris-Davis of Ottawa; his stepmother, Mary Makris of Chevy Chase; three brothers; a sister; and seven grandchildren.

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Friends can contact Mr. Craig Matthiessen at CEPPO office of USEPA (matthiessen.craig@epa.gov)