Finland launches criminal investigation into Google datacentre forest clearance

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 29 Oct, 19:03 · Archive

Finnish police have launched a criminal investigation into Google's clearing of forest for a planned datacentre in northern Finland before required environmental assessments were completed.

Finnish police have launched a criminal investigation into Google subsidiary Tuike Finland for alleged breaches of environmental law at a planned datacentre site in Muhos, in rural northern Finland. Authorities say the company cleared and drained 330 hectares (815 acres) of forest before completing required environmental impact assessments. Campaigners estimate 250,000 trees were felled at the site, with a further 150,000 at a second site near Otanmäki.

The project is part of a larger €13bn artificial intelligence infrastructure investment announced by Google, which the company has described as its largest investment in Europe. Finland is attractive to tech companies for datacentre development because of its geopolitical stability, land availability and cool climate for energy efficiency.

Detective Superintendent Kari Pakanen told Reuters that the investigation will examine whether the company's operations breached the Water Act and resulted in environmental damage, with a guilty finding potentially resulting in a corporate fine. A Google spokesperson said the company would cooperate with the police investigation and continue to focus on maintaining compliance at its sites. Earlier this month, Finnish authorities ordered Google to suspend work at the two sites after the company failed to complete environmental impact assessments before clearance.

How it is being reported

• Finland launches criminal probe of suspected environmental damage by GoogleThe US tech giant is investing $15bn in a huge new data centre project in northern Finland.Al Jazeera · 29 Oct, 18:24
• Finland launches criminal investigation into Google’s clearing of forest for datacentre siteAuthorities allege company may have breached Finnish environmental laws by forgoing required impact assessment ‘Pure arrogance’: anger in Finland as Google illegally fells 250,000 trees for datacentre Finnish police have launched a criminal investigation into possible breaches of the country’s environmental laws at the site of a planned Google datacentre in rural northern Finland. Authorities allege that Tuike Finland, a Google subsidiary, cleared and drained 330 hectares (815 acres) of forest at the planned site in Muhos before environmental impact assessments required by Finnish law had…The Guardian · 29 Oct, 14:51

In this story: Finland · Google · Tuike Finland · Muhos · Otanmäki

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log