Leaking battery in '97 c140

[albert champion]

well, i went to drive this coupe today. remote key did not work. car electrically dead. uh-oh. opened it manually. went to the trunk to check the battery. was not happy to see evidence of leakage and white powder[not anthrax i think] on the floor of the battery compartment.

first time that this car has had a battery problem. original battery. but now i am displeased by the fact that benz has placed this battery in a location where leakage could eat a hole through the floor of the trunk.

any recommendations as to how to prevent a recurrence of this problem? and what do you gurus recommend to neutralize the residual battery acid?

all ears.