Firm left waste on industrial plots despite conviction, cleanup bill may fall to city

A derelict industrial site in Lohja’s Saukkola district has become an illegal dumping ground, piled with mixed construction waste and debris, Yle reports.

The land is owned by a company that has ceased operations and has no responsible parties left to address the mess. Municipal environmental records show complaints about the site dating back to at least 2012.

In 2019, a court convicted the entrepreneur behind the waste of aggravated environmental pollution, sentencing them to a one-year suspended prison term, a five-year business ban, and an order to remove all waste listed in the ruling from the plots. The cleanup was never carried out, and the sites remain heavily polluted.

The case was brought by the city of Lohja and the Uusimaa ELY Centre’s environmental monitoring unit. The entrepreneur largely denied the charges.

Residential areas and a temporary daycare centre now lie near the site, which is also located in a groundwater zone and a zoned area. The city has no legal means to intervene directly, and under current waste legislation, the municipality may end up footing the bill for the cleanup.

A cost estimate commissioned by the city two years ago suggested the cleanup could run into the hundreds of thousands of euros. Lohja’s environmental authorities have sought guidance from the Finnish Patent and Registration Office on how to proceed.

Nationally, police report that much environmental crime goes undetected. A 2025 review noted that Finland lags behind neighbours like Sweden in recording such offences, with illegal waste disposal among the most common violations. Financial motives often drive corporate cases, while smaller infractions typically stem from individual negligence. Authorities urge the public to report suspected environmental crimes to local officials or police.