"Gayle Surrette" wrote in message
...
I have a related question. How do you tell if your soil
is toxic? We bought our house last January and it was
built 13 years ago. There's a retaining wall to the side
of the house and the wood has a greenish tinge. But it's
damp there. I want to move the asparagus beds against the
retaining wall but I don't want to move them until I
can find out if the retaining wall is arsenic treated
wood. I emailed the previous owner and he's fairly
sure that he wouldn't have used treated wood because
he tried to stay organic but he's hesitant to say
positively that it's not. How can I tell?

Do I have to send a sample to a lab or something?
This is the first time I've run into this so I'm
at a loss on how to find out or even who to contact.

Gayle
================================================== =====

Gayle,
I would start with the assumption that is Copper arsenic treated wood. I
would think that a retaining wall is ground contact, which requires either
pressure treated lumber or some rot resistant wood, like cedar, redwood, or
cypress. Realy expensive. Maybe, you could replace the wall with some
masonry or stone. If it is treated lumber, it is getting close to its life
expectantcy. And, the more the wood deteriorates, the more the toxins leach
into soil.
I would be more interested in the soil toxin level, maybe there is some
agriculture extension in D.C. or maybe you could check with city
information, and find some help there.
I know you probably didn't want to hear this, but if you are concerned
about soil contamination, then you might want to be proactive. And, just
think how much better stone masonry wall would look. You were speaking of
planting Asparagus, so I think you might be planning to stay for awhile. So
if it is treated lumber, you'll be replacing it anyways. And from what I
gather, treated lumber will not be available, after this year.
Len