The city of Saint John hopes it can tap into federal-provincial infrastructure money to cap parts of the city's Howe's Lake dump.

The dump has been closed for 32 years but it is still leaching pollutants into nearby properties.

Saint John Coun. Bill Farren said he has been frustrated with the slow pace of work to safely close the Howe's Lake site, where garbage was collected from the 1950s until the 1970s.

"The main issue is the leachate and the other types of associated problems with the landfill. You don't know what was dumped in there back in those days," Farren said.

Howe's Lake is being discussed because the city has discovered it cannot spend $800,000 of the federal-provincial infrastructure stimulus money on other projects before the March 31, 2011 deadline.

Unfinished project

Saint John Mayor Ivan Court said the city would like to use the money to close the Howe's Lake dump.

"We're simply saying there's an unfinished project called Howe's Lake and that amount of money is equal to the exact amount we need to shut that down once and for all," Court said.

The money would cover a portion of the old dump but city staffers confirm as many as four future construction phases would remain.

The provincial government is now considering the request.