Behind a wire fence lies a vast gaping wound of earth. Before Google’s arrival a few months ago, an estimated quarter of a million trees occupied the 330 hectares (815 acres) of forest near the town of Muhos in rural northern Finland. Now they are all gone.
After the tech company illegally stripped the entire area to build a datacentre – taking even the top soil with it – all that remains is a vast expanse of mud indented with the trail marks of machinery, puddles and mounds of earth, roots and branches. Residents say that brown water flowing off the site is going into a stream that feeds the Oulujoki River.
Fine them to oblivion
Just cancel the building permits.
They already proved they won’t follow even basic requirements.
Not just fines please. I’m a big fan of “you have to put it back the way it was before we can let anything else proceed with the project” as well
That includes the 50+ years of growth needed to get it back to the “way it was”. Of course.
Oh, definitely.
And jail time for executives, board members, and majority shareholders.
I’m a big fan of community service. Making them wake up at 5am for the next 30 years to plant trees sounds great.