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Finland's LVV found drainage work at Google's Muhos site needs a Water Act permit and ordered a water-management plan by 5 November, after a halt order issued on 6 October.
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Scenery from Google's Muhos location page. It shows the surrounding landscape, not the data center site, for which Google has published no construction photos.
Image: Google
Source · Press image from the Google data centers site, used for news reporting.
The Finnish Licensing and Supervision Authority (LVV) said on 22 October that drainage work at Google's planned Muhos data center needs a permit under the Water Act, and it ordered a detailed water-management plan by 5 November. The authority said most of roughly 9 km of new ditches is already built.
LVV wants the Muhos water-management plan by 5 November 2026, after the 6 October suspension order, according to the authority's press release.
Illustration (AI-generated)
The statement adds to the suspension order LVV issued to Google's subsidiary Tuike Finland Oy on 6 October. That order told the company to stop work at the Muhos and Kajaani-Otanmäki sites immediately, or by 23 October at the latest, because environmental impact assessments are unfinished. Tuike replied on 14 October that it would comply and had halted preparatory work at both sites, LVV said.
Tuike filed its drainage notification for Muhos on 18 September, according to LVV. The authority said such a notification should come at least 60 days before work starts. It also said the site lies in a black-shale area, where ditching and excavation can oxidise sulfide-bearing soil and raise acidity and metal content. The company's own monitoring already shows changes pointing to acidification, LVV said.
LVV judged that liming the soil and building lime filter dams are not enough on their own to stop acidic, metal-laden runoff. It also pointed to solids and nutrient loading in heavy rain. The plan due on 5 November must set out the structures, their locations, a schedule and independent water monitoring. If the company does not act, LVV said it is weighing administrative coercion under the Water Act, backed by a conditional fine.
The two sites are part of Google's EUR 13 billion Finnish AI infrastructure investment announced in September. Drainage and earthworks done ahead of permits are now under review, so the preparatory schedule for both sites depends on how LVV rules. LVV gave no new date for any restart.
Fortune reported on 23 October that an estimated 250,000 trees were cleared at Muhos, a figure it attributed to The Guardian. Yle reported earlier that Google said it had fallen short of its own standards and intended to comply. More than 96,000 people have signed a citizens' initiative calling for tighter control of data centers, Fortune said. Voltgrid has covered Google's earlier Finnish nuclear supply deal, a separate earlier agreement.
LVV also asked Tuike for further clarification by 5 November on maintenance, securing and environmental-protection measures at both sites, and for a report on the status of a moor frog breeding and resting site at Muhos. The Kajaani-Otanmäki drainage notification, received on 29 September, is being handled as a separate matter.
LVV said it has filed an investigation request with police about the Muhos project and will not comment on it. Whether Tuike will apply for a Water Act permit, and how long that would take, has not been stated.
