Finland has ordered Google subsidiary Tuike Finland to stop certain construction and land-clearing activities at planned data centre sites in Muhos and Kajaani until environmental impact assessments are completed, raising questions about how large technology projects should be prepared before their environmental effects are fully examined.
The Finnish Supervisory Agency, known as LVV, issued the order on Tuesday. Tuike Finland must immediately stop the specified activities and comply with the request no later than 23 October.
The restrictions cover tree removal, excavation, blasting, crushing, soil removal, drainage work and the construction of site roads and storage areas. Planning, measurements, soil surveys and other activities with limited environmental effects that can easily be reversed are still permitted.
LVV said information gathered during its investigations indicates that work has already altered both locations. The changes include forest clearance, removal of topsoil, construction of roads and storage areas, alterations to ditches and culverts, and work involving stormwater management.
Tommi Muilu, head of LVV’s environmental department, said the activities could affect the environment in ways that the assessment process is intended to identify and examine.
“Our assessment is that these measures change the environment and cause impacts whose identification and assessment are among the central objectives of the environmental impact assessment procedure,” Muilu said in the agency’s statement.
The environmental impact assessment procedures for both data centre projects remain incomplete and are expected to conclude during 2026. The agency’s intervention means that specified site preparation work must stop while the assessments remain unfinished.
Tuike Finland was given until 14 October to submit a written response explaining its position on LVV’s request. Google has since confirmed that it will comply with the order.
“We understand the concern caused by the situation. In this case, we did not meet the high standards we set ourselves,” Sondre Ronander, Google’s communications manager for Finland and Norway, said in a company statement.
Ronander said Google had acted in good faith under Finland’s Forest Act, carried out nature surveys and taken steps to protect areas considered environmentally valuable. He also said the company plans to plant trees across 130 hectares in Muhos.
The dispute had already attracted attention in September, when concerns emerged over forest clearance at the planned data centre sites. The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation said more than 300 hectares of forest had been cleared at the proposed facility in Leppiniemi, Muhos, while the environmental impact assessment process was still incomplete.
The organisation argued that a permanent change in land use on such a scale should have been preceded by an environmental impact assessment. It also raised concerns about work connected to Google’s planned data centre project in Otanmäki, Kajaani.
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The two projects form part of Google’s planned €13 billion investment in Finland, which includes the development of new data centre facilities. The investment represents a major expansion of the company’s infrastructure in the country, but the latest dispute highlights the importance of completing environmental reviews before carrying out work that could permanently change the land.
Environmental impact assessments are designed to identify significant effects before major decisions are made and substantial preparatory work begins. According to LVV, extensive changes made before an assessment is complete can make it more difficult to examine alternative locations or approaches and determine how environmental damage could be reduced.
The agency warned that failure to comply with its request could lead to administrative enforcement under environmental impact assessment legislation or other applicable laws. Possible measures include a conditional fine.
Google’s decision to comply means that further enforcement is not required at this stage. However, the specified work at the two sites must remain suspended in line with the agency’s request while the environmental assessment procedures continue.
