You forgot to mention that some of these groups receive federal grant money to fund the "environmental" lawsuits. It wasn't a secret, but the media seems to have treated that fact as though it were. This was set up during Carter's administration, the idea being that publicly elected or appointed officials could not be trusted to actually enforce environmental law.

Also granted by the same law was a very special legal standing to sue, which enables someone who is not an affected party, to sue. To have the needed "standing" to sue, almost anywhere but in environmental law, you have to be an adversely affected party. Not so with these groups

So whenever officials don't enforce environmental law to the satisfaction of some group or other, the fed funded lawsuits will fly, along with the NYMBY and wacko-club and other as you mentioned actions as well.

So instead of properly appointed qualified experts and officials elected by the people making these decisions, they are made by what are essentially vigilante groups. Worse yet, nobody can speak for all these groups. So even a settlement with one such group, or several; does not mean the project can proceed - there are sure to be other random lawsuits from other disgruntled groups on the way - in a never ending free-for-all.

These provisions need to be repealed, or at least severely restricted; thus returning the power back to the people's elected agents - where it belongs.