The police say that the investigation is backed by Finland’s Licensing and Supervision Authority (LVV). Google /Tuike Finland Oy is accused of suspected breaches of environmental law and environmental damage. Other lesser criminal offenses related to ambiguities and shortcomings in the drainage and water management are also being investigated.
Since Google representatives have previously publicly apologized for the unauthorized forest clearings near Muhos, which have turned 816 acres of forest into an expanse of mud, there seems little doubt it is guilty of some wrongdoing. Rather, it is the scale of the punishment and any proposed remedies that will probably be of most concern to execs from the tech giant now.
As well as the awful mess Google has made near Muhos, it seems to have also jumped the gun and plowed ahead with data center development by clearing 500 acres of forest near Otanmäki.
Though the horse has already bolted, Reuters reports that a Google rep said the company would cooperate with the police investigation and continue to focus on maintaining compliance at its sites. Maintaining?
Google AI data center project investigated after 420 football fields of Finnish forest demolished
Wolves roam into Finnish villages after Google destroys 1,300 acres of forest for AI data centers
Finland orders Google to stop work on two AI data centers over alleged deforestation
Last week we reported that wolves had descended on Finnish villages after their habitats had been destroyed to make way for the Google AI data centers. Data center developments were already a thorny issue with locals. Potential construction and operating noise, pollution, utility competition, and environmental damage concerns were overshadowed – for some – by the presence of wild animals that had moved out of the forest.
Google sees Finland as an attractive location for data center development with its cool climate, affordable power, and government endorsement of AI projects. It has also benefitted from being able to develop in low population density areas and from a populace with a low propensity for protest. However, Google is testing the Finnish public with its trampling of the environment. The wolves, pollution, potentially 40% higher electricity bills, and other impacts weren’t helping its case, even before this criminal investigation.
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/criminal-investigation-launched-into-googles-ai-data-center-deforestation-in-finland-local-police-act-over-multiple-complaints-about-breaches-of-environmental-law#main
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