WHEELING - Once covered by layers of snow, hundreds of cigarette butts litter the area in front of the City-County Building.
Workers and visitors often can been seen smoking on the building's front porch. And since there currently is no ashtray or urn for folks to use, some smokers flick their butts on the porch, onto the sidewalks and Chapline Street, and into mulch surrounding decorative bushes owned by the county. A few years ago, a smoldering cigarette butt caught dry mulch on fire in front of the building, prompting a visit by the Wheeling Fire Department.
At least one person apparently is trying not to litter when smoking - a foam cup sitting on a window's ledge contains old, wet cigarette butts.
Article Photos
Photos by Shelley Hanson
Sanitarian Charles Fisher on Tuesday checks out cigarette butts littering mulched areas in front of the Wheeling City-County Building.
Some may wonder why people are permitted to smoke in front of the building at all. A sign posted on a wall outside says "no smoking," as ordered by the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department. However, that sign is meant only to warn people that smoking is not permitted inside the building, said Howard Gamble, health department administrator.
"It is a very unsightly area; however, the City-County building is in compliance. ... Now there is a standing law that is being broken, and this is littering," Gamble said.
Gamble said sometime in the future the county's board of health could consider expanding its Clean Indoor Air regulation to cover entrances to public buildings. For example, some private businesses in downtown Wheeling already have signs posted prohibiting smoking within 15 feet of an entrance. Something similar, Gamble noted, could be done at the City-County Building.
"When I first came some two years ago to my position, I suggested to both the city and county to make the grounds of city and county property smoke-free," Gamble said, noting he did not receive much feedback on his suggestion.
"Many health departments and other governmental agencies across the country are beginning to look at enforcing littering laws in regards to discarding cigarette butts. The disposing of used cigarette butts out the car window or even at the steps of the courthouse has become too common and accepted by society, but, in short, it is littering.
"The establishment of a non-smoking entrance or campus sends a very powerful message that an individual's health, and in some cases the customer or visitor's health, is important to the business, organization or entity," Gamble added.
A maintenance worker said prisoners were used this week to clean up the butts, but some mulched areas were left alone and still contained butts on Tuesday. One maintenance worker said he personally did not want to clean up cigarette butts from the mulch because he believed they were too germy to touch with his fingers.
Ohio County Administrator Greg Stewart said Tuesday he would look into purchasing a cigarette butt container for the porch. However, he noted though it may help deter littering, he did not know how many smokers would actually use it. A container at the building's rear is available for use, but maintenance workers still must sweep the area to clean up old butts.