Butterfly safety focus of community panel

5/25/00

NEWS-PRESS STAFF REPORT 

To help protect the Ellwood area's monarch butterflies, the Goleta West Sanitary District is creating an advisory committee of community members.

By its action, Goleta West becomes the first of the community's independent agencies to sponsor a standing advisory group. The district, which sweeps streets and operates the sewer system for the western half of the Goleta Valley, is seeking neighborhood activists for the panel.

"It's all about butterflies," said district general manager Ralph Sogliuzzo.

Members of the Santa Barbara Shores Homeowners Association, Save Ellwood Shores and other grassroots groups are being asked to serve, he said.

The aim is to communicate better about district activities in or near the Ellwood butterfly habitat, Devereux Creek and the adjacent Coronado Open Space. The district has major sewer lines through the area.

Ellwood neighborhood leaders have for years been vocally protective of the locally renowned butterfly grove near their homes and have been critical of sanitary district activities there.

The district will confer with the panel before making emergency repairs or doing routine cleaning and inspection of lines in environmentally sensitive areas, Sogliuzzo said.