Plans to expand the regional landfill in Windsor-Essex are over budget.

At its board meeting Wednesday, members of the Essex-Windsor Solid Waste Authority heard the construction and engineering costs of the expansion cost $9.6 million.

The actual construction portion of the project on the south side of the site finished $70,000 over budget.

Construction began in 2018 and was completed earlier this year.

The board says this project will extend landfill use until 2024.

"We have enough capacity now to landfill the regions garbage up until that point in time," said EWSWA general manager Eli Maodus. "We also constructed a new compost pad which will enable us to continue on with acccepting material from residence, the grass, the leaves, the tree trimmings, the brush to turn that into compost that people are buying at the lake for their gardens in the spring time."

Maodus also said they have future expansion plans to extend the life of the landfill through 2040.