VECO Corporation was an American oil pipeline service and construction company until its purchase in September 2007 by

CH2M Hill CH2M, earlier CH2M Hill, was an engineering company that provided consulting, design, construction, and operations services for corporations and governments. The company was organized in Corvallis, Oregon, and headquartered at 9191 South Jamai ...

. As of that date, the VECO Corporation ceased to exist. Founded in 1968 as Veltri Enterprises by Wayne Ray Veltri, renamed VE Construction after being bought in 1970 by Bill Allen and in 1979 changed to VECO Corp. The company grew to become a major player in the Alaskan oil industries' support. VECO also was a worldwide player in the oil industry, having divisions in many major oil markets.

Exxon Valdez oil spill

On March 24, 1989, the

oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crud ...

Exxon Valdez ''Oriental Nicety'', formerly ''Exxon Valdez'', ''Exxon Mediterranean'', ''SeaRiver Mediterranean'', ''S/R Mediterranean'', ''Mediterranean'', and ''Dong Fang Ocean'', was an oil tanker that gained notoriety after running aground in Prince Wil ...

ran aground on

Bligh Reef Bligh Reef, sometimes known as Bligh Island Reef, is a reef off the coast of Bligh Island in Prince William Sound, Alaska. This was the location of the 1989 ''Exxon Valdez'' oil spill. After the incident, 33 US Code § 2733 mandated the operation ...

, spilling eleven million gallons of crude oil into the waters of

Prince William Sound Prince William Sound (Sugpiaq: ''Suungaaciq'') is a sound of the Gulf of Alaska on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located on the east side of the Kenai Peninsula. Its largest port is Valdez, at the southern terminus of the Tr ...

. The

Exxon Valdez oil spill The ''Exxon Valdez'' oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989. ''Exxon Valdez'', an oil supertanker owned by Exxon Shipping Company bound for Long Beach, California struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef, west o ...

was the largest in United States history. VECO was responsible for large parts of the spill's clean up, hiring 2,500 workers to clean up the environmental disaster.

Voice of the Times

VECO's Ex CEO, Bill Allen, paid for the publishing of the "Voice of the Times," a half page counterpoint to the ''

Anchorage Daily News The ''Anchorage Daily News'' is a daily newspaper published by the Binkley Co., and based in Anchorage, Alaska. It is the most widely read newspaper and news website (adn.com) in the state of Alaska. The newspaper is headquartered in Anchorage, ...

'' which was published within the pages of the latter. The Voice of the Times is what remains of the '' Anchorage Times'', a newspaper which went out of business due to competition from the ''Anchorage Daily News'' in 1992. In accordance with an agreement reached between the former editors of the ''Anchorage Times'' and the ''Anchorage Daily News'', space was provided for the ''Times editors to provide a counterpoint to the ''Anchorage Daily News''. From 1992 until 2002, the ''Anchorage Daily News'' provided this space for free. In 2002 the agreement was renewed for five years, but the "Voice of the Times" was required to pay for the space as though it was advertising. On May 9, 2007 the Anchorage Daily News announced it would end the arrangement at month's end, and it would cease publishing the Voice of the Times. Although ADN publisher Mike Sexton said the decision had been made a week prior, he was quoted a few days before this announcement as saying the situation was still under review. The Voice of the Times now exists as a

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

Alaska Legislature corruption scandal

On August 31, 2006 officers with the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

and the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

raided the offices of several prominent members of the

Alaska Legislature The Alaska Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is a bicameral institution consisting of the 40-member Alaska House of Representatives (lower house) and the 20-member Alaska Senate (upper house). There are 40 Hou ...

. Raided were the offices of Sen.

John Cowdery John Joe Cowdery (February 11, 1930 – July 13, 2013) was a Republican member of the Alaska Senate, representing the O District from 2001 through 2008. He was previously a member of the Alaska House of Representatives from 1982 through 1984, an ...

(R-Anchorage), Senate President

Ben Stevens Benjamin Aavan Stevens (March 18, 1959 – October 13, 2022) was an American politician and political advisor who served as the Chief of Staff to the Governor of Alaska, Mike Dunleavy. He previously served as the President of the Alaska State S ...

(R-Anchorage), Rep.

Vic Kohring Victor H. Kohring (August 2, 1958 – September 6, 2022) was an American politician who was a member of the Alaska House of Representatives. A Republican, he was elected to seven consecutive two-year terms beginning in 1994. Kohring represented W ...

(R-Wasilla), Rep. Bev Masek (R-Willow), Rep.

Bruce Weyhrauch Bruce Weyhrauch is an attorney in Juneau, Alaska, United States. He is also a former representative in the Alaska State House representing Juneau's District 4. Weyhrauch has practiced at his own law office in Juneau for nearly three decades. ...

(R-Juneau), Sen. Don Olson (D-Nome), and Rep.

Pete Kott Peter Kott (born 1949) is a former Republican state representative for District 17 serving Eagle River, Alaska, in the Alaska Legislature for seven terms, from 1993 until 2007. He was Speaker of the House during his sixth term in 2003–2004. On ...

(R-Eagle River). The investigation involved allegations of illegal gifts to law makers from VECO.Associated Press. (2006-08-31)
"Aides say agents looking for gifts, financial information."
''

''. Retrieved on 2007-05-07. Senator Olson was never charged but it was found he had turned down illegal campaign assistance.

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...

is another Alaskan politician that received campaign support from VECO. The ''

International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France for international English-speaking readers. It had the aim of becoming "the world's first global newspaper" and could fairly be said ...

'' reported on September 3, 2008, "As Palin campaigned unsuccessfully in 2002 to become lieutenant governor, she received contributions from executives at VECO Corp., a powerful Alaska oil field services company." The questionable donations totaled $4,500, over 10% of all her funding that year. Allen admitted that he had given executives money to be contributed in his "bonus" program though he denied knowing that the laundering was illegal. Also named in the search warrants were VECO officers Bill J. Allen, Rick Smith and Pete Leathard.

VECO executives indicted, plead guilty

On May 7, 2007, VECO CEO Bill Allen and Vice President for Community & Government Affairs Rick Smith pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Anchorage to charges of extortion, bribery, and conspiracy to impede the Internal Revenue Service.D'Oro, Rachel. (2007-05-07)
"Oil service execs plead guilty to bribing Alaska lawmakers."
Associated Press. ''Anchorage Daily News''. Retrieved on 2007-05-07. In addition to the three politicians arraigned on May 4, the new court filings mention illegal payments made to a former state senator, named as "Senator B" in court documents, who received over $200,000 from VECO Corp. over several years, income which Senator B reported as "consulting fees." In the May 7 guilty pleas by Allen and Smith, they admit that the only work done by Senator B in exchange for the funds was advancing VECO's agenda in the state legislature. The only former state senator who matches the information contained in court documents about Senator B is former Senator

(R-Anchorage), son of U.S. Senator

Ted Stevens Theodore Fulton Stevens Sr. (November 18, 1923 – August 9, 2010) was an American politician and lawyer who served as a U.S. Senator from Alaska from 1968 to 2009. He was the longest-serving Republican Senator in history at the time he left o ...

(R-Alaska). To date, Ben Stevens has not been indicted.Demer, Lisa and Sheila Toomey. (2007-05-07)
"Unnamed lawmakers cited in federal charges against Veco identifiable."
''Anchorage Daily News''. Retrieved on 2007-05-07. Another state senator discussed in the court documents who later pleaded guilty, was identified as "Senator A." He was John Cowdery.Tracy, John. (2007-05-07)
"VECO brass strike plea deal on charges of bribing lawmakers."
KTUU Channel 2 News, Anchorage. Retrieved on 2007-05-07. On 3/12/09 ex-state representative Beverly Masek pleaded guilty to taking $4,000 in bribes from Allen.

Allen, Smith resign

On May 11, 2007 the VECO Corporation announced that CEO Bill Allen and Vice President for Community & Government Affairs Rick Smith had resigned from the corporation. Allen was succeeded as chairman of the board by his daughter, Tammy Kerrigan.

Federal bribery investigations

On July 24, 2007, ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' reported that Representative

Don Young Donald Edwin Young (June 9, 1933 – March 18, 2022) was an American politician from the state of Alaska. At the time of his death, he was the longest-serving Republican in congressional history, having been the U.S. representative for for ...

was under federal investigation for possibly taking bribes, illegal gratuities or unreported gifts from VECO."Paper reports Young's Veco ties investigated"
, ''Associated Press'', July 25, 2007 Between 1996 and 2006, Young received $157,000 from VECO employees and its political action committee. In the first half of 2007, Young spent more than $250,000 of campaign contributions for legal fees.
''The Politico'' dated July 17, 2007. Alaska State House representatives

Beverly Masek Beverly L. "Bev" Masek (née Jerue) (born September 30, 1963) is an Alaska Native and an American former dog sled racer, and businesswoman. She was a Republican politician who served in the state legislature for several terms. Early life, educ ...

and

were all charged with federal crimes as part of the investigation into VECO. On May 29, 2007, the ''

'' reported that the FBI and a federal grand jury were investigating an "extensive" remodeling project at Senator

' home in Girdwood, Alaska. The remodeling work, organized by VECO, more than doubled the size of the home (public records show that the home is now and valued at about $441,000). The repairs could have cost anywhere between $130,000 and 250,000, and the payments Ted Stevens paid were about $160,000. Stevens' Alaska home was raided by the FBI and IRS on July 30, 2007. Stevens was indicted by a federal

grand jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...

on July 29, 2008 on seven counts alleging that Stevens received hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts that he did not declare on his

US Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

financial disclosure forms. Stevens was convicted on all seven of these charges on October 27, 2008. All the convictions were vacated on April 7, 2009 due to gross

prosecutorial misconduct In jurisprudence, prosecutorial misconduct or prosecutorial overreach is "an illegal act or failing to act, on the part of a prosecutor, especially an attempt to sway the jury to wrongly convict a defendant or to impose a harsher than appropri ...

CH2M Hill acquisition

In May 2007 VECO began negotiations with Colorado-based

to acquire VECO. The deal was finalized in September 2007, with CH2M Hill integrating VECO into its operations.

References

External links

VECO Corporation official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Veco Corporation 1968 establishments in Alaska 2007 disestablishments in Alaska Companies based in Anchorage, Alaska Companies disestablished in 2007 Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1968 Defunct companies based in Alaska Defunct oil companies of the United States Oilfield services companies Privately held companies based in Alaska Construction and civil engineering companies disestablished in 2007 2007 mergers and acquisitions Construction and civil engineering companies of the United States