Environmental review is most useful before the forest is cleared. Finland’s supervisory agency LVV has ordered Tuike Finland Oy, a company affiliated with Google, to stop preparatory activities that substantially alter the environment at two planned data center sites in Muhos and Kajaani, a project reported to be worth $15 billion.
What LVV ordered
The agency’s order covers preparatory work that significantly changes the environment. The reported trigger was the clearing of protected forest without the required environmental impact assessment.
At the Muhos site, work had also removed topsoil, built roads and storage areas, and altered drainage ditches. In Kajaani, a further 200 hectares of forest were reportedly cleared. The report says it is not yet clear whether that work had been authorized.
Google’s response
Google has a little more than a week to provide officials with an explanation. The company apologized before the review was complete.
Google representative Sondre Ronander said the company had made a mistake, acknowledged that it had not met its own standards, and said it would study LVV’s findings and follow its recommendations.
Tommy Muilu, head of LVV’s environmental department, confirmed the scale of the reported violations. The chair of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation said the company had effectively paved over land that should have been preserved.
The acreage is unclear
The report gives conflicting figures for the amount of forest affected. Its headline says 330 hectares were cleared, while its body describes 330 hectares at Muhos and another 200 hectares at Kajaani. It does not explain whether the 330-hectare figure includes the Kajaani site.
That leaves both the final total and the status of the Kajaani work unsettled. For now, LVV’s order pauses the preparatory activities that significantly change the sites while the company responds to the agency.