Google told to halt work on Finnish data centers after clearing an estimated 250,000 trees before environmental review was done

Google spent years selling Finland as proof that a data center can be welcomed, not feared. Now Finnish regulators are saying the company moved ahead of the rulebook.

The Finnish Licensing and Supervision Authority has ordered Google subsidiary Tuike Finland to stop environmentally significant prep work at its sites in Muhos and Kajaani until the required environmental impact assessments are done. The agency’s notice came after, according to The Guardian, an estimated 250,000 trees were cleared at Muhos.

That matters because these sites sit inside Google’s €13 billion investment in Finnish AI infrastructure, announced in September and described by the company as its largest single investment in Europe. Google already runs a data center in Hamina, and it has been eager to frame Finland as a place where big digital infrastructure can coexist with local jobs, heat reuse and clean power.

Finland’s regulators clearly are not buying the timeline. Tommi Muilu, head of the Environmental Department at the agency, said the work already carried out included tree removal, stripping topsoil, building access roads and storage areas, altering ditches and culverts, and setting up stormwater arrangements. Those are exactly the kinds of changes the EIA process is supposed to examine first.

The halt is limited, though. Planning, measurements, soil surveys and other reversible work with minor impact can continue, the agency said. Google didn’t comment to Fortune.

That leaves the Finnish government in a slightly awkward spot. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo praised Google’s announcement in September as proof that Finland can attract investment. But more than 96,000 people have signed a citizens’ initiative on kansalaisaloite.fi calling for tighter control of data centers, including a fee and a warning that they should not hurt electricity supply or prices for others.

Google’s Hamina site is the cleaner story the company likes to tell. It bought the former paper mill there in 2009, opened the data center in 2011, uses seawater from the Gulf of Finland for cooling, and sends waste heat to local homes and businesses. Google says that heat recovery could cover up to 80% of the district heating network’s annual demand. It also signed a 22-year deal with Fortum in September to help extend the life of the Loviisa nuclear plant, which Google says supplies about 10% of Finland’s electricity.