The Oulu Police Department opened a preliminary criminal investigation on 29 October 2026 into suspected environmental damage at a Google data centre construction site in Muhos, northern Finland, Yle reported. The inquiry concerns work by Google’s local subsidiary, Tuike Finland, at a site where Finland’s Supervisory Agency had already ordered preparatory work to stop. Police have received five requests to investigate activities there, including a request from the agency.
Key points
- Police are investigating suspected environmental damage at Tuike Finland’s Muhos site, with drainage and water management among the matters under examination.
- The Finnish Supervisory Agency had ordered preparatory work to stop at Muhos and Kajaani-Otanmäki while required environmental impact assessments remained incomplete.
- Tuike must submit a detailed water management plan for Muhos by 5 November. Police expect to complete their preliminary investigation during 2027.
Oulu police examine the Muhos drainage
Police said their initial information pointed to “ambiguities and shortcomings” in drainage and water management at the Tuike Finland Oy worksite, Reuters reported. Investigators will examine the circumstances surrounding those matters. The police are treating the case as suspected environmental damage, while other possible charges may emerge during the preliminary investigation.
The five requests received by the Oulu Police Department will all be addressed in the preliminary inquiry. The Finnish Supervisory Agency, the body overseeing environmental permits and assessments, made one request for police to examine the Muhos work. Its referral places the site activities before criminal investigators as well as the authority responsible for the outstanding environmental assessments.
Authorities said Tuike Finland, a subsidiary of Alphabet’s Google, cleared forest and carried out drainage near Muhos before completing environmental impact assessments required under Finnish law, Reuters reported. Google has said it began preparatory work on the basis of its understanding of the approvals the relevant legislation required. The investigation now concerns activities at the worksite, rather than the investment plan of which the data centre forms part.
The 6 October order covered two sites
On 6 October, the Finnish Supervisory Agency ordered Tuike to stop environmentally significant preparatory work at Muhos and at a second planned data centre site in Kajaani-Otanmäki. Required environmental impact assessments for both projects were incomplete. AI Affairs reported the halt order at the two sites. Tuike confirmed on 14 October that preparatory work had stopped at both locations.
The agency found Tuike’s water management plans insufficient to demonstrate that water-related environmental effects could be controlled. For Muhos, it required a more detailed plan setting out the proposed structures, when they would be put in place and how independent water monitoring would work. The plan must account for heavy rain, snowmelt and risks associated with acidic black shale soils in the area. Tuike must submit it by 5 November.
In an account of the agency’s 22 October update, Papnews reported that monitoring results already indicated acidification. The authority considered Tuike’s proposed liming measures insufficient on their own to deal with acidic runoff carrying metals, according to the paper-industry publication. The agency has also requested information about essential maintenance and protective measures at both sites, as well as the condition of a moor frog breeding and resting area at Muhos.
Tuike’s Muhos drainage notification described approximately nine kilometres of new ditches, most of them already built, Papnews reported. The agency said the notification should have been made at least 60 days before work began and concluded that the drainage required a permit under Finland’s Water Act. It was assessing the Kajaani-Otanmäki drainage notification separately. The authority may pursue formal enforcement, including a conditional fine, if adequate action is not taken.
Google’s Finland investment and the police timetable
The Muhos construction work forms part of Google’s 13 billion euro investment in Finland, Yle reported. Google described its announced plan as a $15 billion investment in Finnish AI infrastructure, according to Reuters. The company has said the planned spending includes data centres, electricity grid improvements, and clean energy and battery projects connected to services including Gemini, Search, Maps and YouTube.
Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo endorsed the investment as a boost to the economy when Google announced it in September. At Muhos, the agency’s order remains directed at the preparatory work and environmental assessments, while the police inquiry addresses suspected damage associated with activities at the site. The Oulu Police Department aims to provide more information in December and expects to complete its preliminary investigation during 2027, Yle reported.
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