Jeannette woman accused of burning water service crew with sulfuric acid

Police arrested a Jeannette woman Tuesday on charges she poured sulfuric acid drain cleaner in a Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County pipe, burning three workers who were restoring her water service, according to court papers.

Deborah Samulski, 61, is charged with weapons of mass destruction, risking a catastrophe, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief. She was being held without bond at the Westmoreland County Prison.

MAWC stopped water service to her Harrison Avenue home Nov. 18 after she failed to pay water and sewer bills for several months, according to county Detective Ray Dupilka. Authority officials told police Samulski made dozens of harassing and threatening phone calls to the authority until Nov. 25, when she paid $450.

A crew was sent to her home that day to restore water service. They were met with liquid and debris blocking their access to the shutoff valve, according to court papers. The workers used compressed air to clear the clog, resulting in three of them being sprayed with the liquid — which immediately caused chemical burns and irritation to their skin and clothing, police said.

The men treated the exposure quickly and weren’t seriously hurt, Dupilka said. Authority spokesman Matt Junker said the employees have returned to work.

As detectives served a search warrant at Samulski’s house that day, MAWC workers replaced the pipe outside as a precaution. Junker said there was no damage to other businesses or homes in the area.

Bottles of drain cleaner and the pipe were seized by detectives. All items submitted to the state police crime lab for analysis tested positive for sulfuric acid, according to court papers.

A man living at Samulski’s home told police that on Nov. 24, he saw her pour liquid from a bottle and human feces into the pipe after complaining about the situation.

“(He) confirmed that this was done to expose water authority employees to the liquid and human waste,” Dupilka wrote in the complaint.

Samulski told police she believed her service couldn’t be terminated for not paying her utility bills during the coronavirus pandemic and admitted to making numerous harassing phone calls to the authority, authorities said. She claimed to have used the cleaner in her basement, but police found dust and cobwebs in the drains there, according to court papers.

Sulfuric acid is a corrosive colorless liquid that can be deadly in severe exposure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can cause skin burns and internal damage if ingested.

A working phone number for Samulski could not be located. She did not have an attorney listed in online court records. A Jan. 28 preliminary hearing is set. Seven criminal cases were filed against her in Westmoreland County in 2020, with offenses ranging from disorderly conduct and harassment to false reports to public safety and institutional vandalism, according to online court records.