Google ordered to halt data centre work in Finland over forest clearing

Finland's supervisory authority, the LVV, has ordered Google to temporarily halt construction of two data centres — in Muhos and Kajaani — after the company began extensive preparatory work without completing the mandatory environmental impact assessment (EIA).

The data centres are part of a €13bn project that Google is rolling out across several sites in northern Finland, driven by enormous demand for space to house online infrastructure.

A forest turned to sand

It emerged that Tuike Finland Oy, the company representing Google, had felled 330 hectares of forest in Muhos before the EIA was finished. In Kajaani, logging reportedly covered just under 200 hectares. The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation said the sites had been reduced to "sand" and blamed the "overheated" market for new data centres.

On Tuesday the LVV told Google to "immediately suspend" — by 23 October at the latest — any measures that "significantly change the environment" at the two sites until the assessment is complete. The company has until next Wednesday to submit a written explanation.

The EIA is still under way and due later this year, yet Google had already carried out "extensive preparatory measures": removing trees, stripping topsoil and building site roads. Tommi Muilu, head of the LVV's environmental department, noted that identifying and assessing exactly such impacts is the core purpose of the EIA procedure.

The company's response

Google said it "understands the concerns" and admitted it had "fallen short of our own high standards." It promised to study the findings and follow the authority's guidance, insisting it had acted in good faith under the Forestry Act, run nature surveys and protected high-value areas. Its plans include planting trees across 130 hectares at Muhos.

If Google does not comply, the LVV said it would consider enforcement proceedings and a fine.

Tapani Veistola of the Association for Nature Conservation called the conduct across both sites a "systemic problem." The root cause, he argued, is an overheated market that pushes companies to move as fast as possible — compounded by a lack of expertise in the small municipalities overwhelmed by such projects.

Source: Hacker News