The ACT Government has imposed strict environmental conditions on the Raws Crescent plant including that the owners, Energy Services Invironmental, submit an environment management plan identifying any activities that could cause environmental damage.

Unlike the Mitchell site, the new plant is an oil filtration facility that will not treat oil contaminated with toxic polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs.

Environment Protection Authority (EPA) director Daniel Walters said the management plan had to be completed before the new site could start to operate.

‘‘They’ve submitted a draft but there were some issues so they’re working on it,’’ he said.

‘‘Until we approve it, they can’t start work.’’

Mr Walters said the new facility did not have the same risks involved as the previous plant in Mitchell.

‘‘It’s not using sodium in the process – this is totally different,’’ he said.

‘‘That sodium metal is highly volatile and there’s none of that.

‘‘That’s the stuff that goes boom in the night.’’

Demolition of the Dacre Street plant in Mitchell began last month.

The company has not indicated if it plans to rebuild in Mitchell, or process PCBs elsewhere in the territory.

‘‘As I understand, Hume’s a temporary arrangement,’’ Mr Walters said.

Last September’s blaze hurled fireballs up to 200 metres above the burning building and shut down Mitchell for four days.

The company’s New Zealand general manager Nigel Wallace spoke for the first time last month about the fire and demolition of the wreckage.

Mr Wallace said the company had spent six months and about $1 million planning the demolition and had ‘‘significant’’ monitoring measures in place to ensure the surrounding environment was protected from possible contamination.