The present invention provides a method and apparatus for a biometric transponder based activity management system in a defined area. The pipe is held stationary during machining and a rotatable spindle of a machine head moves along multiple orthogonal axes to align the rotational axis of the spindle with the longitudinal pipe axis. The points may be accumulated and redeemed for value, thus retiring the pollution credit. A piston position indicator is provided which is connected externally to the hydraulic piston cylinder to avoid the possibility of hydraulic leaks due to the piston indicator.