Muhonen municipality aware of Google data centre site stormwater problems since August – police investigating
Muhonen municipality was aware of stormwater problems at Google's data centre construction site as early as August, according to documents obtained by STT. Oulu police are investigating suspected environmental damage.
Municipality knew of data centre stormwater problems months before disclosure
Muhonen municipal manager Kimmo Hinno emailed the municipality's technical director Mikko Kari on 12 August to inform him that Google's data centre site was having difficulties with stormwater. Information about muddy water flowing from the construction site only became public later in the autumn. This is reported by ksml.fi based on documents obtained by STT through a freedom of information request.
"We were contacted from the Google site saying that now that it has rained a lot, they are having some problems with stormwater. It is presumably our task to direct that stormwater safely away from the area," Hinno wrote in his message.
Heavy late-summer rainfall had put strain on the construction site. At the end of October, Oulu police announced that they had begun a preliminary investigation into suspected environmental damage that occurred in the preparatory works for the project. According to police's initial information, there have been unclear aspects and shortcomings in the site's drainage and water management.
Permit and Supervision Authority filed an investigation request
The Permit and Supervision Authority (LVV) filed an investigation request with police earlier in October. The LVV reported that monitoring results submitted by Google's subsidiary Tuike Finland had revealed changes indicative of acidification. According to the LVV, the acidification is due to drainage work carried out in the area as well as other excavation and land dewatering operations, and the site was unable to take sufficient measures to prevent the formation of acidic and metal-containing runoff water.
The LVV learned of the problems at the end of August and participated in a site meeting on 28 August. The authority also sent Tuike Finland a written request for information. The company responded on 2 September saying that water management measures had been initiated in August, but it did not provide an exact date for when the measures were started.
Municipality relied on project implementers
When STT asked about the matter at the end of October, municipal manager Hinno was unwilling to discuss the events in more detail.
"As I recall, I was in contact with Google at that time and told them they need to take action on this matter now. I cannot comment further," he said.
Technical director Mikko Kari, for his part, felt that the matter had been given disproportionate attention in the media.
"I think this has been made a huge fuss about, when there is brown water in just one ditch," he told STT.
In a subsequent email response, Kari reported that the municipality had fundamentally relied on the parties responsible for implementing the project to have taken care of the planning and execution of the work. According to Kari, when the municipality learned of the problems, the matter was discussed with the operator and municipal representatives familiarised themselves with the situation on the ground.
Responsibility for stormwater management is divided between the project operator and the municipality. The master plan for the data centre area has been approved, but it is not yet legally binding, and the stormwater systems envisaged in the master plan have not been implemented.
Google knew of need for environmental impact assessment in logging
The Muhonen data centre site has also made headlines due to suspected illegal logging carried out there. In April, Tuike Finland requested an exemption from the LVV to carry out logging without an environmental impact assessment (EIA). The LVV stated in May that this would not be possible. Nevertheless, the company continued its operations in the area until the end of August.
However, emails obtained by STT reveal that Google was aware that the logging required an environmental impact assessment. Julia Payne, who served as a strategic negotiator for Google, expressed frustration in her messages about project delays.
"Yes, we are aware :( This is going to significantly delay our project," she wrote to Mikko Kari on 28 May in response to the LVV's position.
"The LVV stated that the project still needs to undergo an EIA based on the hectares involved," Payne stated in another message.
Google has logged over 300 hectares of forest at Muhonen for the data centre. According to law, an environmental impact assessment must be applied to conversion logging of over 200 hectares in extent. The harvested timber has been sold to, among others, UPM and Stora Enso. Google has previously stated publicly that it had been under the impression that the logging could have been carried out without completing the environmental impact assessment.
Source: Google News FI — Crime (fi)