Finnish authority investigates suspected illegal logging at Google data centre sites

Finland’s Permits and Supervisory Agency has requested further information about suspected illegal logging at Google data centre construction sites in Muhos and Kajaani, Yle reported. The agency said the situation remains unclear and that its investigation is still under way.

The suspicions concern Google’s data centre projects in Leppiniemi in Muhos and Otanmäki in Kajaani, in northern Finland. Forest work reportedly began at the sites months ago, while the projects’ environmental impact assessments were still incomplete.

Google has denied acting unlawfully and said the trees were felled in full compliance with the requirements of the Forest Act.

Sari Myllyoja, head of the Communities and Infrastructure Unit at the Permits and Supervisory Agency, said the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation had notified the agency about the matter. The agency had also received reports from members of the public about possible effects on waterways near the Muhos construction site.

The agency has requested additional information from the municipality of Muhos, the city of Kajaani and Tuike Finland Oy, which represents Google.

“The situation is still very unclear, and all the investigations are unfinished,” Myllyoja said.

The agency does not yet know how much forest has been cleared at the sites. Based on information reported publicly, about 300 hectares may have been cleared in the Muhos data centre project area.

The agency said preparatory work had begun at the project sites and that, in its view, the work could have significant environmental effects.

Environmental impact assessments are a two-stage process. The first stage of Google’s assessment has been completed in both Kajaani and Muhos, while the second stage is still under way.

Myllyoja said this did not automatically mean that anything had been done incorrectly. The agency must determine what permits Google has received. It has asked Muhos and Kajaani whether Google was granted, for example, a landscape work permit and what preparatory work those permits allow.

The agency has not yet decided whether to suspend work at either site. The matter is still being investigated.

Nature conservation group calls for thorough investigation

Kai Kokko, a professor of environmental law at the University of Helsinki, said the allegations should be investigated thoroughly. If logging has been carried out illegally, an order halting the work would generally be required, he said.

Kokko said the agency must use enforcement measures to ensure that the environmental impact assessment is completed. In practice, he said, the assessment should be carried out before logging begins.

Violations of the Forest Act could also lead to criminal penalties, according to Kokko.

Vesa Hyyryläinen, chair of the Kainuu nature conservation district, said the parties currently had conflicting accounts of what had happened.

“This must be investigated site by site,” Hyyryläinen said. “Usually, the project leader believes they are right. Our organisations’ task is then to check whether the laws and regulations have actually been followed.”

Hyyryläinen said concern about the logging was primarily driven by the loss of biodiversity.