Lucie Heath

As i’s environment correspondent, Lucie has produced front-page stories that have influenced policy and brought important matters of public interest to light.

She has spearheaded i’s Save Britain’s Rivers campaign, which has shone a light on the devastating impact pollution is having on our waterways.

As part of this campaign, she has produced a number of scoops that have revealed water company law-breaking and regulator incompetence.

This includes an exclusive story revealing the locations of thousands of hidden sewage overflow points that are dumping waste into our national parks. The story challenged the Government’s claim at the time that all sewage spills were being monitored. Following publication of the story, the Labour Party’s general election manifesto included a pledge to extend monitoring to all the areas revealed in i’s investigation.

She also revealed for the first time suspected widespread lawbreaking by water companies dumping sewage without an environmental permit. The story was labeled a “national scandal” by the Liberal Democrats and the Environment Agency has said it is investigating the wrongdoing.

During the general election campaign, Lucie worked with leading environmental groups - including the National Trust, Greenpeace and Rivers Trust - to develop a five-point manifesto to Save Britain’s Rivers from pollution.

The manifesto was immediately backed by the Green Party and Liberal Democrats and praised by Sir Keir Starmer. Labour’s announcements so far have included some significant wins for i’s campaign, including plans to tighten regulation of water companies and increasing monitoring of sewage spills.

Alongside her work on sewage pollution, Lucie has published a series of stories that have shone a light on the environmental and public health impact of intensive farming in the UK.

This included a joint investigation with The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which revealed how emissions of ammonia are surging in chicken farming hotspots across the country. Ammonia emissions are an underreported issue that has a huge impact on public health. As part of this investigation, Lucie traveled to the Wye Valley to meet with rural communities in England and Wales who are being impacted by the growing intensification of our food production. This front-page story served as a direct challenge to Britain’s major supermarkets and fast food chains, who are being supplied by companies responsible for serious pollution. Lucie is a fearlessly committed reporter whose revelatory public interest journalism is changing policy for the better.