S
imple croutons would do.
The universal salad topping
adds that extra crunch that
makes eating so pleasurable.
But not at Beast.
Here at this Northeast Portland res-
taurant, the texture on the chicory and
apple salad comes from dried milk sol-
ids cooked in brown
butter, which trans-
form into a crumbly,
tasty garnish.
“It’s like bread-
crumbs, but there’s
no gluten in it,” says chef and owner
Naomi Pomeroy, a Top Chef finalist and
three-time nominee for the coveted
James Beard Award. “We could put a
crouton on it, but it wouldn’t be neces-
sary.”
Beast, which opened in 2007, is one of
two Portland restaurants certified to
serve the growing mass of diners seek-
ing gluten-free options for health, life-
style or medical reasons.
Gluten-free diets also are more sus-
tainable, as they require knowing where
food comes from, and avoiding pro-
cessed foods that tend to have big car-
bon footprints.
In a city now known as a gluten-free
mecca, Portland was the second stop of
a 10-city “Chef’s Table Tour” in late Oc-
tober, sponsored by a nonprofit called
Gl u t en - Fr ee Re -
source Education
Awareness Training
(GREAT) Kitchens.
“We chose Port-
land because it is a
very forward-thinking city; people like
the food, appreciate the food,” says Iron
Chef finalist Jehangir Mehta, owner of
two New York City restaurants, both of
which are certified by GREAT Kitchens
to safely serve customers avoiding glu-
ten.
Certified restaurants — including
Beast and one other in Portland, Vitaly
Paley’s Imperial — don’t need to exclu-
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2013
WWW.PORTLANDTRIBUNE.COM
THE PORTLAND AREA’S GUIDE TO GREEN LIVING
Top: Visiting Iron Chef finalist Jehangir Mehta and Beast owner/chef
Naomi Pomeroy prepare a gluten-free dish during a lunch event at her
restaurant. Above: Patrons savor the gluten-free meal, part of a
Chef’s Table Tour sponsored by the nonprofit Gluten-Free Resource
Education Awareness Training (GREAT) Kitchens.
By ANNE MARIE DISTEFANO
Pamplin Media Group
Oregon is an unlikely
birthplace for new nuclear
power production.
Since 1980, nuclear power
plants have been banned in the
state.
But that hasn’t stopped
NuScale Energy, headquar-
tered in Portland, from advanc-
ing to the cutting edge of nucle-
ar power technology.
NuScale, based on technolo-
gy pioneered at Oregon State
University, is
developing
small, modu-
lar reactors
that Mike Mc-
Gough, the
company’s
chief commer-
cial officer,
says “will tru-
ly change the
way the world
looks at nucle-
ar energy.”
Smaller
NuScale reac-
tors can, in
theory, be
cheaper to
make and saf-
er to operate
than the hulk-
ing power
plants of to-
day. A single
NuScale pow-
er plant would
consist of one
to 12 reactors, maxing out at
about half the power output of
current reactors.
The smaller reactors could
be built in factories, taking ad-
vantage of assembly-line effi-
ciency, and they could be trans-
ported around the world. The
smaller size also incorporates
safety features that, the com-
pany says, make the reactors
much less vulnerable to a Fu-
kushima-type incident.
No meltdowns possible?
McGough compares the
NuScale reactor to a big Ther-
mos bottle, about 82 feet tall and
15 feet in diameter. A traditional
reactor containment dome rises
about 200 feet above ground. But
the small NuScale modules
would be kept underground, in a
pool of water so large that addi-
tional water wouldn’t be needed
to prevent a meltdown.
Both types of reactor use en-
riched uranium to generate
massive amounts of heat, and
water to transfer the heat to
turbines that create electricity.
But the NuScale reactor is
more self-contained. Water in-
side the reactor circulates free-
ly — the hotter water constant-
ly rises, the cooler water con-
stantly falls — rather than rely-
ing on pumps.
“You don’t need pumps; you
don’t need valves; you don’t
need motors,” McGough ex-
NuScale says plant
would shut itself
down in emergency
PDX firm
seeks
nuclear
revival
“You don’t
need
pumps; you
don’t need
valves; you
don’t need
motors.
So .... you
don’t need
electricity”
to shut
down the
plant in an
emergency.
— Mike McGough,
NuScale chief
commercial
officer
See NUKES / Page 3
By SHASTA KEARNS MOORE
For Pamplin Media Group
When you stroll along Ore-
gon’s beaches, slip a boat into
Waldo Lake or drive through
the Columbia River Gorge, it’s
easy to imagine these land-
marks have been around for-
ever — set aside long ago by a
benevolent government for
future generations.
But, as former Sierra Club Ex-
ecutive Director Michael McClo-
skey reveals in his new book, it
was only within the last century
that ordinary, outraged people
fought to protect these areas
against scheming, theft and ex-
ploitation.
McCloskey’s newest book,
“Conserving Oregon’s Environ-
ment,” pays tribute to the heroes
of Oregon’s conservation and
environmental crusades, detail-
ing the battles they fought and
the methods they used to win.
Names vaguely familiar to Ore-
gon parks visitors — from Os-
wald West to John Waldo —
jump to life alongside lesser-
known but equally dedicated
activists who worked hard to
Book by ex-Sierra
Club leader details
hard-won victories
Chronicling Oregon’s
conservation battles
See BOOK / Page 5
See GLUTEN / Page 2
PAMPLIN MEDIA GROUP: JONATHAN HOUSE
“Conserving Oregon’s Environment” author Michael McCloskey says he
wanted to share lessons about how environmental gains were made
with younger activists.
By MARA STINE
Pamplin Media Group
All the stuff folks in
Gresham, Fairview and
Wood Village put down
their toilets and other
drains is being harnessed
to slash energy costs for
sewer system customers.
By next year, Gresham’s
wastewater treatment plant
can lay claim to being totally
powered by renewable ener-
gy created onsite, much of it
from converting methane gas
from sewage into electricity.
“We are very proud of our
environmental record in a
number of areas,” says
Gresham Mayor Shane Be-
mis. “But to be honest, many
of our choices to go green are
motivated as much by the
color of money as they are by
our environmental steward-
ship ethic.”
Eight years ago, when 100
percent of the treatment
plant’s power came from
Portland General Electric,
Gresham paid $44,000 a
month for electricity to pow-
er and heat the plant, says
Alan Johnston, senior engi-
neer with Gresham’s waste-
water services division.
In July, the bill was down
to just $7,500, says Paul Proc-
tor, project manager for Veo-
lia Water,contracted by the
city since 2005 to operate the
plant at 20015 N.E. Sandy
Blvd.
The treatment plant also is
recycling fats, oils and
grease, and producing biogas
from them. Those innova-
tions put Gresham on the
Sewage plant’s green
practices slash costs
Gresham uses biogas,
solar to approach
net zero on energy
Paul Proctor,
project manager
for Veolia Water,
stands next to
the Gresham
sewage plant’s
flare that burns
excess biogas.
By next fall, that
gas will instead
produce energy,
when a second
generator
becomes
operational.
PAMPLIN
MEDIA GROUP:
JIM CLARK
See SEWAGE / Page 3
■
Gluten-free foods no longer relegated to ‘health food aisle’
Story by Jennifer Anderson
Photos by Jonathan House
LESS GLUTEN,
MORE TASTE
1 2,3,4,5,6