Kajaani inspector says Google did not pressure city over data centre work

Kajaani’s chief building inspector says Google did not pressure the city over work at its planned data centre site, and rejects claims that the project damaged nature. He made the comments to Yle as work at the site remains halted while an environmental impact assessment is under way.

Inspector Kari Huusko said cooperation with Google subsidiary Tuike Finland had been constructive. “We have not been pressured in any way, from anywhere,” he said.

The Permit and Supervisory Agency urged Tuike Finland to stop preparatory work in Kajaani and Muhos because the environmental impact assessment was incomplete. Huusko said the tree-felling in Kajaani’s Otanmäki district began too early.

Google did not need a permit from Kajaani’s building control department to fell trees, Huusko said. Forest management is overseen through a notification process involving the Finnish Forest Centre, with information passed to other authorities.

Google has applied for a building permit in Kajaani and asked to begin preparatory work, including quarrying and crushing. The city granted permission subject to conditions, including compliance with nature values identified in the local plan and a quarrying plan aligned with the environmental impact assessment.

The conditions also included a stormwater management plan covering the area, with settling ponds and protective structures. Huusko said the work to reduce environmental impacts was already well advanced when the agency called for work to stop. He said he urged the agency to allow the work to be completed and understood that it had done so.

Huusko said the agency’s request to stop work came as a surprise because he had believed it knew about the tree-felling and other activity. The agency oversees compliance with environmental impact assessment legislation, he said.

Google plans data centres in Kajaani, Muhos and Vaala. The controversy has focused mainly on Muhos, where more forest has been cleared than at the Otanmäki site. In Vaala, tree-felling is not due to begin until after the environmental assessment.