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Finnish authorities have ordered a halt to building work at two planned Google data centres amid concerns over the clearance of more than 300 hectares of forest.
The sites form part of Google’s record €13bn (£11bn; $15bn) investment in Finland, announced less than a month ago and described by the company as its largest single investment in Europe.
The Finnish Supervisory Agency (LVV) said work at one site was carried out without a mandatory environmental impact assessment and ordered measures that would “significantly alter the environment” to be suspended by 23 October.
Google said it had “fallen short of our own high standards in this instance” and would follow the agency’s guidance.
The orders relate to preparatory work carried out at the planned data centre sites in Muhos and Kajaani.
According to LVV’s head of environment Tommi Muilu, work at the sites included the removal of trees and topsoil, the construction of site roads and storage areas, and changes to ditches.
Tuike Finland, the company behind Google’s data centre projects, has been asked to provide an explanation and set out how it intends to proceed by 14 October. The agency said it could begin “enforcement proceedings” if the company failed to comply with its demand.
Hanna Halmeenpaa, chair of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, had previously told the AFP news agency that “nature sites which should be preserved” had been felled. The conservation group had previously called for work to be halted while the environmental requirements were examined.
In a statement to the BBC, Google said: “We understand the concerns and have fallen short of our own high standards in this instance.”
It said it had “acted in good faith under the Forestry Act”, carried out nature surveys and put measures in place to protect areas of high environmental value.
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