Ebensburg, Pa., area gears up as demand for coal production grows.

By Susan Evans, The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Nov. 30--EBENSBURG, Pa. -- For the first time in a decade, the gate is open to the Mine 33 entrance, and a new sign on Cambria Slope Road warns of truck traffic.

And showing up on a recent Cambria Township supervisors' meeting agenda, in bureaucratic language, is the survey description of a planned coke plant at the abandoned mine.

These projects underscore that a "perfect storm" is brewing to spark production of coal -- braced by everything from new uses for waste coal to strong world demand.

With international demand for metallurgical coal growing, the first tiny steps also are being taken toward the mammoth environmental permit process for …