Financial report context:
the intangible assets identified that were determined to have value as a result of our analysis of allied 2019s projected revenue streams and their related profits include customer relationships , franchise agreements , other municipal agreements , non-compete agreements and trade names . the fair values for these intangible assets are reflected in the previous table . other intangible assets were identified that are considered to be components of either property and equipment or goodwill under u.s . gaap , including the value of the permitted and probable airspace at allied 2019s landfills ( property and equipment ) , the going concern element of allied 2019s business ( goodwill ) and its assembled workforce ( goodwill ) . the going concern element represents the ability of an established business to earn a higher rate of return on an assembled collection of net assets than would be expected if those assets had to be acquired separately . a substantial portion of this going concern element acquired is represented by allied 2019s infrastructure of market-based collection routes and its related integrated waste transfer and disposal channels , whose value has been included in goodwill . all of the goodwill and other intangible assets resulting from the acquisition of allied will not be deductible for income tax purposes . pro forma information the consolidated financial statements presented for republic include the operating results of allied from the date of the acquisition . the following pro forma information is presented assuming the merger had been completed as of january 1 , 2007 . the unaudited pro forma information presented has been prepared for illustrative purposes and is not intended to be indicative of the results of operations that would have actually occurred had the acquisition been consummated at the beginning of the periods presented or of future results of the combined operations . furthermore , the pro forma results do not give effect to all cost savings or incremental costs that occur as a result of the integration and consolidation of the acquisition ( in millions , except share and per share amounts ) . year ended december 31 , year ended december 31 , ( unaudited ) ( unaudited ) .

Financial table:
year ended december 31 2008 ( unaudited ): revenue; year ended december 31 2007 ( unaudited ): $ 9362.2; column_3: $ 9244.9
year ended december 31 2008 ( unaudited ): net income; year ended december 31 2007 ( unaudited ): 285.7; column_3: 423.2
year ended december 31 2008 ( unaudited ): basic earnings per share; year ended december 31 2007 ( unaudited ): 0.76; column_3: 1.10
year ended december 31 2008 ( unaudited ): diluted earnings per share; year ended december 31 2007 ( unaudited ): 0.75; column_3: 1.09

Additional report context:
the unaudited pro forma financial information includes adjustments for amortization of identifiable intangible assets , accretion of discounts to fair value associated with debt , environmental , self-insurance and other liabilities , accretion of capping , closure and post-closure obligations and amortization of the related assets , and provision for income taxes . assets held for sale as a condition of the merger with allied , the department of justice ( doj ) required us to divest of certain assets and related liabilities . as such , we classified these assets and liabilities as assets held for sale in our consolidated balance sheet at december 31 , 2008 . certain of the legacy republic assets classified as held for sale were adjusted to their estimated fair values less costs to sell and resulted in the recognition of an asset impairment loss of $ 1.8 million and $ 6.1 million in our consolidated statements of income for the years ended december 31 , 2009 and 2008 , respectively . the assets held for sale related to operations that were allied 2019s were recorded at their estimated fair values in our consolidated balance sheet as of december 31 , 2008 in republic services , inc . and subsidiaries notes to consolidated financial statements , continued .

Question: what was the percent of the decline in the asset impairment loss for the years ended december 31 , 2009 and 2008
Answer: -70.5%