Conservation chief accuses Google of knowingly bypassing rules

Finland’s Nature Conservation Association says Google knowingly took risks by starting work on data centre sites before the plans were legally binding and environmental impact assessments were complete, Yle reports. The association’s chair, Hanna Halmeenpää, welcomed a government agency’s call for work to stop in Muhos and Kajaani.

The Licensing and Supervisory Agency urged Google subsidiary Tuike Finland on Tuesday to halt preparatory work that significantly alters the environment at the two sites. The agency said work had included clearing large forest areas, removing topsoil, preparing stormwater systems and building access roads and storage areas.

The conservation association raised concerns about potentially illegal logging in mid-September and had asked for work to be suspended. Halmeenpää said the agency’s call was expected. Google has told Yle that about 330 hectares of forest had been cleared at the Muhos site and just under 200 hectares in Otanmäki, Kajaani.

Google representatives have said publicly that the company acted in accordance with the Forest Act and in good faith. Halmeenpää said she did not find that explanation credible and described the decision to proceed as a conscious risk.

She visited the Muhos site last week and said trees and topsoil had been removed. Based on heavy truck traffic, she inferred that soil replacement for construction was also under way. Halmeenpää said the site is in an area with acidic sulphate soils and that she believed sulphate emissions could reach the Oulujoki river.

The association’s magazine, Suomen Luonto, used satellite images and zoning maps to examine the site. It reported that places marked in the local detailed plan as recommended for preservation because of their biodiversity had been destroyed. Halmeenpää said the plan could no longer be implemented as Muhos council had approved it.

She said the situation in Otanmäki was similar: the plan there is not legally binding and the environmental impact assessment is at an early stage. The association is also following a third proposed data centre in Vaala.

Halmeenpää said Finnish criminal law does not currently set penalties for failing to carry out an environmental impact assessment, although a government bill on the issue is being prepared. Any changes would not apply retroactively to the current case. She said authorities may need to consider how to compensate for the damage already caused.