Claim: Oil group renovated Stevens' home

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Employees of an oil company renovated the home of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, the head of the renovation project said.

David Anderson, who supervised the major renovation of Stevens' home in Girdwood, Alaska, said the oil contractor VECO Corp. had provided more than $150,000 worth of labor to the construction effort, The Seattle Times reported Wednesday.

"We did all kinds of stuff, so it's ludicrous to think that it's only $130,000," Anderson said. "Labor alone was more than that."

The renovation work will be of significant interest for federal investigators, who will likely focus on whether VECO founder Bill Allen was attempting to gain favor with Stevens by providing his employees' labor.

The remodeling took place in 2000 when Stevens was chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which oversees the expenditure of billions of federal dollars.

Stevens has said he and his wife paid all the costs of remodeling the home, the newspaper said.