Christopher Hamel said:

I initially built my raised vegetable garden with treated lumber.
snip
So, that said, my garden has been around about two years.

IMO, two years, no harm done. (You rinse any dirt off your veggies --
especially the root veggies or low-slung green, right?)

Your risk has more been from handling/kneeling on the wood -- but I doubt
you are in the habit of licking your knees or sticking your hands in your mouth.
The same can't be said of small children, whose risk from being around
pressure-treated lumber is still very small, but large enough to trigger EPA
concern. (Decking and play structures were major consumers of PT lumber,
and kids crawl all over them.)

Certainly the exposure you had handling and cutting the PT lumber when
installing it dwarfs anything that two years of sitting on the ground will have
done.

I'm going
to replace the wood borders this weekend (if anyone has a
cost-effective alternative, I'm all ears -- I like the pastic lumber
but can't find anyone that sells it in the Dallas-Fort Worth area),

I don't use anything to hold up my (slightly) raised beds. You probably
would be safe replacing your borders over the next year or so with
concrete blocks.

but my next question is regarding the soil. Is it tainted, or can it
be salvaged? It's good stuff, too.

Your soil is fine. Keep adding compost, and wash your veggies before
eating. You are in far greater danger of cancer from working out in the
sun in your garden than from that treated lumber. Low levels of arsenic
are present in the soil just about everywhere. (I remember reading
somewhere -- possibly in Science News -- that in areas where soil levels
or arsenic are *extremely* low, people are more prone to heart disease.
Some animal studies have been done which seem to support the theory
that arsenic in tiny amounts might be essential. Remember, selenium is
a toxic metal and a pollutant in some areas but also an essential nutrient,
in very small amounts.)

http://www.healthy.net/asp/templates...rticle&ID=2004

Whatever you do, do not cut or burn the PT lumber you remove.
--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)