Yes, I don't understand why there hasn't been a mass volunteer response like back then. Everyone seems to be waiting for BP or the government to act.
I think it's a combination of denial, bewilderment and shock, the waiting.
I was thinking about the wiki article cited above: it said that 162 miles of US coastline was impacted, and we had 2 months before the oil "landed".
In the current scenario, there will be well over 558 miles of US coastline impacted, and the oil has come ashore in less than/more than one month. And that's not including the current which will take it around to the Atlantic side of the coastline. So, perhaps I was hasty in making a comparison.
Maybe there is and I just haven't heard about it.
On the Army Corps of Engineers site, there is a blurb about "the unemployed" getting hired for the clean-up. There's also talk of the Obama office developing a youth corps.
Meanwhile, there are many animal activist organizations (like Audubon, for just one) who are setting up shop to assist ... not to mention various Institutes and Universities. Perhaps we don't "know" about all of this yet because the work has only begun. There is conspiracy-talk about BP attempting to keep the photos of the dead and dying birds, fish, and other critters out of the public's view, but I don't think they can succeed at that.