Finnish police opened a criminal investigation on Thursday into the environmental impact of work at one of Google’s planned data centre sites in the Nordic country.

The Oulu Police Department said it launched the probe into Tuike, a Finnish company representing the tech giant, over work conducted at Muhos in northern Finland.

Police classified the case as “environmental degradation” and said they may add more criminal classifications as the investigation progresses.

Early findings point to “ambiguities and deficiencies in drainage and water management at the construction site,” police said in a statement.

The investigation follows a request from the Finnish Supervisory Agency (LVV) and will likely take until 2027 to complete, with an update expected in December.

Google announced a €13 billion (R243 billion) investment in September to build digital infrastructure at four sites across Finland over the next two years, aimed at powering its artificial intelligence ambitions.

However, the plans have faced mounting criticism from citizens worried about environmental damage.

In early October, LVV ordered work at Google’s Muhos and Kajaani data centre sites to stop temporarily until the company completes mandatory environmental impact assessments.

By that time, Tuike had already cleared about 330 hectares of forest in Muhos and nearly 200 hectares in Kajaani.

Antti Jarvinen, Google’s Finland country manager, apologised for the forest clearances in local media and said the company believed its clear-cuts followed the law.

Finnish broadcaster Yle reported that Tuike also cut trees in connection with Google’s data centre expansion in Hamina between 2018 and 2019 without the necessary permits.

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