'Tragic yet avoidable': WSP releases report on Evergreen student's CO poisoning death

OLYMPIA, Wash. — New information about how an Evergreen State College student died in student housing points to errors made on campus.

This new information from the Washington State Patrol (WSP) has now been forwarded to the Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for further review and to Evergreen for corrective action.

WSP investigators spent the past three months searching for answers for what killed Jonathan Rodriguez, a 21-year-old from DuPont who was found unresponsive along with two other students in college housing on the evening of Monday, Dec. 11.

This campus is still very much mourning his death, with a memorial under a pavilion in the area where he lived on campus.

Flowers, notes, and candles are dedicated to Jonathan, but there are also statements directed at the administration, calling for justice.

“Now is a time that we can lean on each other that’s really important,” said Katie Peck, a junior who lives in one of the college’s modular apartments.

A total of three students had been overcome by carbon monoxide (CO) in modular unit 305 on the Evergreen campus. The WSP investigation found that the CO came from a significant leak from a newly installed tankless water heater inside the utility room of that unit.

"I think it’s really terrifying, but at the same time, not entirely surprising at all. I think that we all kind of knew that this school tends to make a lot of errors,” said Soap Khan, a Sophomore who also lives in a modular apartment on campus, though they said their unit is all electric.

The state used an outside forensics team to help with this investigation, which determined the leak came from the improper installation of air intake and exhaust venting for the water heater on Dec. 4.

Alarms on the CO detectors went off during the early-morning hours of Dec. 11, but instead of being treated as a real CO event, investigators said those alarms were treated as a faulty detector and/or a fault of the fire alarm system.

WSP’s investigation determined Evergreen maintenance crews silenced the alarms on Dec. 11, believing the sound to be a false alarm. The report shows the CO devices were removed from the bedrooms and then reinstalled and reset in unit 305 around 7 p.m.

FROM DEC. 14 | Evergreen State College holds vigil following student's death in campus housing

That mistaken assumption, investigators said, was one of several key contributors to this tragedy.

It was later that evening that Rodriguez and two female students, ages 19 and 20, suffered CO poisoning. The female students were rushed to the hospital, where they eventually recovered.

The Texas-based forensic engineering firm, Bison Engineering, in its final report, concluded the intake and exhaust venting was not installed per installation instructions nor to National Fuel Gas Code.

KOMO News asked the school for an interview about these new findings, but were told nobody was available.

Instead, The Evergreen State College emailed a statement that said they are thankful for the WSP’s thorough investigation, stating, “Their investigation found that lack of training and insufficient protocols for responding to carbon monoxide alarms contributed to this tragic accident. As a result, we are taking numerous steps to ensure our students’ safety - including improving training on incident detection and updating alarm response protocols."

“I think that a lack of funding is costing people their lives, their health, and that needs to be paid attention to,” said Khan.

Investigators recorded CO concentrations greater than 4,000 parts per million inside the utility room and concentrations greater than 1,000 ppm inside one of the bedrooms of unit 305.

Exposure to just 800 ppm for 20 minutes can cause dizziness, nausea and convulsions. Death can occur at that level within an hour of exposure.

Physical symptoms can occur within minutes at 3,200 ppm and cause someone to lose consciousness in just 10 to 15 minutes, followed by death.

FROM DEC. 14 | Students blame Evergreen State College administration for death of 21-year-old on campus

CO is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas created during the incomplete combustion of materials containing carbon.

When there’s not proper ventilation, it can make a person ill even at very low levels of exposure.

Exposure at higher levels can cause severe illness, permanent health damage or death.

The final report from WSP also found a lack of training and/or understanding of the functions of the fire alarm/CO systems by Evergreen employees and residence maintenance personnel.

“This was a tragic yet avoidable situation,” WSP Chief John Batiste said. “The State Fire Marshal’s office is a part of the Washington State Patrol and on behalf of State Fire Marshal Chad Cross, we urge everyone to make sure they have properly working smoke/fire and CO alarms in their homes and businesses and understand their operations and maintenance.”

When anyone hears such an alarm go off, they need to get out of the area right away.

Batiste urged everyone to treat each event with the urgency it deserves, adding that “lives depend on it.”

"My heart breaks for their family their friends, and I really hope people can find peace," said Peck.

The school also posted an update for students and families and a statement regarding the WSP report on its website.

KOMO News reached out to Rodriguez's family and Evergreen after the investigation was released.