Finland Orders Google to Halt Site Work Until Environmental Reviews Are Complete

Google must pause environmentally significant preparatory work at two planned Finnish data centers until mandatory environmental reviews are complete. Finland’s Licensing and Supervision Authority, known as LVV, issued the order on October 6 after trees were removed and topsoil stripped. The sites in Muhos and Kajaani form part of Google’s €13 billion Finnish infrastructure project.

Google announced the investment in September, describing the data-center projects across Muhos, Vaala, Kajaani and Hamina as its largest single investment in Europe. The digital infrastructure commitment was intended to support the company’s AI ambitions. The new order targets work at two of those locations, rather than the entire four-site program.

Clearing moved ahead of the assessment

LVV has been investigating whether Tuike Finland, the company representing Google, cleared hundreds of hectares of forest without the required environmental impact assessment. The Guardian reported that 330 hectares had been felled in Muhos before an assessment was completed, with logging reportedly covering just under 200 hectares in Kajaani.

The agency described changes extending beyond tree removal: topsoil had been stripped, roads and storage areas built, and ditches altered. Environmental department head Tommi Muilu said these measures cause the very impacts the assessment process is supposed to identify and evaluate. The assessment is ongoing and expected to finish later this year.

We will study the LVV’s findings and follow their guidance.

Google, in a statement published by the Guardian

Google acknowledges a shortfall

Google said it understood the concerns and had “fallen short of our own high standards.” It also defended its approach, saying it acted in good faith under the Forestry Act, conducted nature surveys and introduced measures to protect high-value areas. Its landscaping and biodiversity plans include planting trees across 130 hectares at Muhos.

The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation offered a harsher explanation. Its chief operating officer, Tapani Veistola, described the problems across two sites as apparently systemic. He blamed intense demand for data centers for pushing companies to accelerate work and overwhelming small municipalities, alongside a lack of municipal expertise.

Two October deadlines

Tuike Finland must submit an explanation and outline how it intends to proceed by October 14. LVV ordered the company to suspend preparatory measures that significantly alter the environment immediately, and no later than October 23. That suspension must remain in place until the compulsory environmental assessments have been completed.

The agency said it would consider enforcement proceedings and a fine if Google does not comply. For now, the regulatory action is a temporary stop to the specified site work, not a cancellation of the planned data centers.