Authority halts suspected illegal soil dumping from Mikkeli data centre

Finland’s Permit and Supervision Agency has ordered an immediate halt to soil dumping at a property in Anttola, Mikkeli, where 55,000 to 60,000 tonnes of surplus soil from a data centre construction site has been delivered, Yle reports.

The property does not have an environmental permit to operate as a soil disposal site. Soil removed from a construction site is classified as waste, meaning a permit is required.

Yle visited the property on Tuesday morning, when trucks were still transporting soil there. The Permit and Supervision Agency issued its order later that afternoon.

Environmental specialist Jyrki Hämäläinen said the soil had supposedly been accepted for use in improving farmland on the property. Authorities do not consider that explanation sufficient.

“There should be evidence that the farmland improvement project would have been carried out even without the data centre construction project,” Hämäläinen said.

Under the order, the property owner must apply for an environmental permit from the Permit and Supervision Agency or transport the soil to an authorised location.

Pyry Virrantaus, chief executive of British company Compute Nordic, said the soil disposal arrangements would have to be handled differently in future.

“We will instruct the main contractor and subcontractor to operate so that this does not happen again. We want to follow the rules and instructions,” Virrantaus said.

Truck traffic drew attention

Compute Nordic’s data centre plot in Mikkeli is 10 hectares in size.

Mikkeli Region Environmental Services received numerous reports that soil was being transported from the construction site to different parts of Mikkeli. Environmental manager Hanna Pasonen said the truck traffic had not gone unnoticed.

For a soil disposal site receiving less than 50,000 tonnes of soil a year, an environmental permit is sought from the municipality.

Pasonen said the environmental services department had received permit applications for soil disposal sites that were probably connected to the data centre’s earthmoving contracts.

However, surplus soil had also been transported to locations without permits. Authorities are investigating whether those deliveries involve justified beneficial use of the soil or unauthorised soil disposal operations.

Following reports from local residents, environmental services requested an account from the earthworks contractor. Based on that account, 250,000 to 300,000 tonnes of soil had been removed from the construction site in total.

The Anttola case was transferred to the Permit and Supervision Agency. The environmental services department is continuing to investigate the other locations.

Virrantaus said that, based on the information currently available, the matter was in order. He added that the company would provide further information if requested by the city.

Similar issues reported elsewhere

Construction of a data centre caused similar problems in Vihti this spring. Local landowners accepted soil for farmland improvement, and the municipality did not require them to obtain environmental permits.

Pasonen said that in large construction projects, locations for receiving surplus soil should be planned well in advance. In her view, contractors should apply for environmental permits for new soil reception sites before submitting their bids.

The permit process assesses a soil disposal site’s effects on the landscape, traffic and water systems.

“When heavy soil masses are spread, they cause oxygen depletion in the soil. Iron may become mobile and affect the quality of surface water,” Pasonen said.

The soil must also be uncontaminated. According to Pasonen, the cleanliness of the soil at the Visulahti construction site has been examined as required.