Google’s Finland country manager Antti Järvinen has apologised for extensive forest clearances at the company’s data centre sites in Muhos and Kajaani.
330 hectares of forest have been cleared in Muhos and just under 200 hectares in Kajaani.
Järvinen spoke to the media on Tuesday after the company had previously commented on the controversy through written statements.
"The reason I am only speaking to the media now is that there has been a lot to investigate. I understand that people have been looking for me, too," Järvinen said.
Google has faced criticism since the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation accused the company of illegally clearing forests in Muhos and Kajaani without the required environmental impact assessments.
Last week, the Finnish Supervisory Agency (LVV) ordered Google to suspend the work.
Järvinen said Google and its subsidiary had acted to the best of their understanding of the law at the time. He said the projects had been advanced in cooperation with authorities and experts.
Google has repeatedly maintained that authorities were aware of its plans for the forest clearances.
However, when asked which authorities it believed had been informed and how that understanding had arisen, Järvinen declined to name them.
"We don't think it would be useful to start debating this publicly. This is our project, and we take full responsibility for what has happened," he said.
Järvinen said he would leave it to the authorities to comment on their own involvement.
Building inspector alleges pressure from Google's lawyers
Muhos municipality's building inspector told newspaper Helsingin Sanomat that Google's lawyers had pressured him into granting permission for preparatory work. Asked whether Google had pressured municipalities, Järvinen denied this.
"I don't recognise this kind of behaviour. I've seen the memo from that meeting, after which the permit was granted. There were no lawyers from our side present at that meeting. Our representatives and our construction consultant's representatives were there, after which the permit was granted," Järvinen said.
He also denied that Google had rushed the clearances to get ahead of environmental assessments, saying the project had been "advanced quite swiftly" but "very openly, in good cooperation with all the different partners and local authorities."
He also denied receiving pressure to speed things up from outside Finland.
Google denies acting out of negligence
Questions have been raised about how Google could have proceeded without understanding the requirements of Finland's environmental impact assessment legislation.
Järvinen said the environmental assessment process had been part of the project's development throughout.
"All decisions were made based on the best understanding we had of the legislation at the time," he said.
He denied that the company’s actions were due to a lack of expertise, inexperience or negligence.
"I am extremely sorry that we are in this situation. I want to apologise for that," Järvinen said.
In addition to Muhos and Kajaani, Google is building data centres in Hamina and Vaala.
Last month it was announced that the tech giant was investing 13 billion euros in Finland.
