Google faces immense criticism for allegedly illegally demolishing about 250,000 trees in Finland to construct a data center, leaving behind a barren wasteland that drove wolves into a nearby town.

According to The Guardian, the cleared area is now a “vast expanse of mud indented with the trail marks of machinery, puddles and mounds of earth, roots and branches.”

Locals said brown water from the cleared area is entering a stream that feeds the Oulujoki River, the outlet noted.

The tech giant is accused of clearing the forested land before gaining full approval.

“Every tree that occupied the 815-acre site just a few months ago is now gone. The Finnish Licensing and Supervision Authority (LVV) has ordered Google to stop work on the Muhos and Otanmäki sites after it cut down the trees before the environmental impact assessment was completed. Google’s Finland manager, Antti Järvinen, has apologized but says they were acting on ‘the best understanding we had of the legislation at the time,'” Collin Rugg wrote.

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“Muhos and Otanmäki are a $17 billion Google AI project. President Trump has criticized Google for taking the projects overseas instead of investing in the United States,” he added.

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The Finnish government, which has presided over deep spending cuts, has encouraged the investment. Last month, when the Google plans were announced, the country’s prime minister, Petteri Orpo, said attracting investment was a “top priority” and “the value of the data economy extends far beyond direct investment”. He said the Google deal would “deliver lasting benefits for both parties”.

But the revelations over Google’s misconduct have prompted public concern over what these deals mean for nearby communities, energy prices for Finnish households and Finland’s natural environment, a national source of pride. The datacentre push is likely to become a key election issue when Finns go to the polls in April.

In addition to the 250,000 trees felled at Muhos, Annala estimates that an additional 150,000 trees were felled at Otanmäki. Because the trees have been felled illegally, she says wood from the two sites cannot be sold to wood-processing plants.

The move has also prompted questions over why Finland’s renewable energy sources are being used to power international corporations.

More than 93,000 people have signed a petition demanding more datacentre regulation and a fee to compensate local communities for environmental damage. Since the scandal broke, Orpo has described what happened in Muhos as a “cold shower”.

Hanna Halmeenpää, chair of SLL’s board, said she had been incredulous when she discovered Google’s law breaking. “At first I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I have never heard that any company has done anything like this in Finland.” She said the system depended a lot on trust, which she believes Google took advantage of. “They bought the vast land area and they just started to cut it, just like that,” she said. “It’s pure arrogance and it’s amazing.”

The clearing of the land pushed animals, such as wolves, closer to human developments in search of food.

For instance, residents in the village of Otanmäki, 50 miles from the site, said they saw wolves.

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“We had wolves coming into the village because all the wild animals moved out of the forest,” one resident said, according to the New York Post.

“They fled. What worries me about the data centers is also the noise because this is hard rock soil. Even when we are standing here talking,” the resident added.

The New York Post shared further:

Angry residents called out Google, asking for reprieve from the company to help repay for losses the community sustained from previous tech expansions on the land.

“It has been done in the wrong way. American style. No sense. No sense at all,” Muhos resident Antti Jakonen told the outlet, calling on the company to help restore the local salmon population that had been destroyed by hydropower years ago.

Ranta revealed she feared the construction of the data centers would be a perfect target for Russian aggression in the already tense European domain.

“I don’t want them in Finland at all. I don’t like the whole idea of AI and the world changing and the way it’s changing. It’s going too fast, too soon.”

Google’s two sites near Muhos and Kajaani, roughly 90 miles apart, are part of its $15 billion investment for AI infrastructure in the Nordic country, which was announced in September.

The Finnish Licensing and Supervision Agency gave Google’s project subsidiary, Tuike Finland Oy, a deadline of Oct. 23 to suspend all operations

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“In the opinion of the Finnish Licensing and Supervision Authority, extensive preparatory measures have already been taken in the project areas based on the currently available reports, such as the removal of trees, the stripping of topsoil, the construction of construction site roads and storage areas, changes to ditches and culverts, and stormwater arrangements,” Tommi Muilu, Head of the Environmental Department, said.

“In our opinion, the measures in question will change the environment and cause impacts, the identification and assessment of which are among the key objectives of the EIA procedure,” Muilu said.

 

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