train had been left unattended and improperly secured overnight on the mainline, with one locomotive running, on a -0.92% grade leading from Nantes, Quebec downhill to a curve where the line entered downtown Lac-Mégantic. By then the track had fallen 360 ft over 7.2 miles. The railway air brakes appear to have released after a local fire brigade shut down the locomotive to extinguish a fire in the engine, allowing the oil-laden cars to roll downhill into the town as an insufficient number of hand brakes had been applied to hold the train. Burkhardt refused to publicly disclose the amount of liability insurance but acknowledged in mid-July "Whether we can survive is a complex question. We're trying to analyze that right now." Questions were also raised about the condition of the line; on July 11 a Magog newspaper reported one in ten railroad ties to be rotten with many spikes loose enough to be removed by hand. Following the accident, the MMA ceased operations on its lines between Lac-Mégantic and Jackman, Maine, effectively severing rail transport on its lines between Maine and Quebec, though rail traffic continued outside the affected area. In Quebec, MMA had continued operation from Farnham with a skeleton staff after the derailment, having laid off 24 Canadian employees and 64 workers in Maine in July 2013 as the line remained blocked by wreckage at Lac-Mégantic. MMA aggregate gross revenue dropped by two thirds, leaving $1 million/month in revenue on the broken line. According to CEO Burkhardt, "This may cost us our company. This may cost us our investment, cost the employees their jobs, the customers in Quebec, in Maine their rail service." On July 30, 2013, the Maine Department of Transportation established contingency plans for MMA's rail clients, contacting every Maine freight railroad to find an operator to carry local factory freight should MMA completely cease operation. These plans were developed due in part to US federal law, which requires that a trustee step in to keep a bankrupt rail line operating until a buyer is found, due to the railway's status as a monopoly in many communities. On August 6, 2013, Burkhardt stated that MMA has no further plans to carry oil by rail. 2013 Financial difficulties and bankruptcy Following the tragedy, parent company Rail World faced hundreds of millions of dollars in lawsuits and environmental cleanup costs due to the destruction of downtown Lac-Mégantic.