The cost of fighting multiple court battles tied to the District government’s use of eminent domain in the area of the new Washington Nationals’ ballpark is quickly piling up.

An emergency resolution introduced this week in the D.C. Council seeks authority to pay law firm Venable LLP up to $3.8 million over the next two years “in support of the District’s eminent domain litigationto determine the amount of just compensation due to the owners of parcels of land on the ballpark site.” The original contract with Venable, which took effect Oct. 17, 2005, was for one year plus four one-year options, each worth no more than $950,000.