Police target clearing at the Muhos site
Finnish police have started a criminal investigation into whether environmental laws were broken at the location of a planned Google data centre in the rural north of the country. Investigators say Tuike Finland, a subsidiary of the US company, felled and drained 330 hectares of forest at the Muhos site before the environmental impact assessments Finnish law requires had been carried out.[S1][S2][S3][S4][S5][S6][S7][S8]
In a statement issued on Thursday, the police said early information pointed to unclear and deficient handling of drainage and water at the construction site of the Tuike Finland Oy data centre project. Officers added that the investigation would look into the circumstances surrounding those matters, among other things.[S1]
Earlier this month the Finnish authorities told Google to stop work at two locations, Muhos and Otanmäki, which lies roughly 100km to the south-east, after the company cleared the land without first completing the required assessments. The Supervisory Agency, which handles environmental permits and assessments, instructed the company to suspend preparatory measures that alter the environment. Campaigners put the number of trees cut at 250,000 in Muhos and 150,000 in Otanmäki.[S1]
An investment climate under scrutiny
Finland, like its Nordic neighbours, draws technology firms that want to build data centres. The country offers relative geopolitical stability and plenty of land, and its cool climate is expected to help operators reduce energy costs. Authorities are weighing applications for 145 new data centres at different stages of planning, among them a €13bn artificial intelligence infrastructure project that Google has described as its biggest investment in Europe.[S1]
Finnish authorities have thrown their weight behind ventures of this kind. After Google's intentions became known in September, prime minister Petteri Orpo called the pursuit of investment a leading priority and argued the arrangement would deliver enduring gains. Antti Järvinen, who heads Google's operations in Finland, has expressed regret over the felling of trees while insisting the firm acted in line with the fullest reading of the law available to it at the time.[S1]
The allegations have nonetheless set off a nationwide argument about what data centre deals deliver for local communities, the environment and electricity prices, and the subject could shape parliamentary elections scheduled for April. A petition calling for tighter regulation of data centres and compensation for environmental harm has gathered more than 93,000 signatures.[S1]
Specialists question the economic payoff. Jussi Kangasharju, a professor of computer science at the University of Helsinki, argued that Finland gains essentially nothing, since these are international companies serving international customers, and that data centres leave little benefit for anyone other than the operator. Experts also note that the facilities create only a limited number of local jobs.[S1]
