Industry and transport account for most environmental damage in Finland

Environmental damage in Finland has remained at about the same level as in the previous decade, with an average of around 3,500 oil and chemical incidents a year so far this decade, Yle reported, citing a new report from the Finnish Environment Institute.

About 90 per cent of the incidents involved oil, while 10 per cent involved other hazardous substances. Among the most significant cases, around 80 per cent were oil-related and 20 per cent involved mainly industrial chemicals.

Most incidents occurred in connection with industrial activity, road transport or storage. The causes were usually technical failures or human error. The report says recurring causes of oil spills include failures in tanks, pipelines and filling equipment, as well as tanks corroding through. Smaller spills often resulted from traffic accidents, theft or vandalism.

Most incidents took place in southern Finland and near large cities and main roads, as in the previous decade.

The report identified four significant environmental incidents during the period: a forest machine driving over a pearl mussel river in Suomussalmi in summer 2024; a major fire at a waste treatment plant in Tampere in November 2024; erosion caused by a stormwater pipe in a Natura 2000 area in Salo in 2021; and an oil spill after a tanker truck left the road in a groundwater area in Luumäki in January 2024.